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CALIFORNIA 

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3   1822  01215  4803 


V.  1 


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THE 


GOVEENMENT  OF  M.  THIERS, 


FROM  8th  FEBRUARY,  1871,  TO  24th  MAY,  1873. 


FROM    THE   FRENCH 
OF 

M.    JULES    SIMON. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 
VOL.   L 


Ncto  ^ork: 
CHARLES    SCEIBNEE'S    SONS, 

743  AND  745  BROADWAY. 
1879. 

[^All  rights  reserved.] 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  FIRST  VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  L 

MSB 

The  Elections •       •        1 


CHAPTER  IL 
The  Assembly  at  Bordeaux        ,       ,        •       •       •      5i 

CHAPTER  m. 
The  Pbelimix ABIES  of  Peace       .        •        •        •       «116 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Paris  before  the  18th  March,  1871  •        •        •    176 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Central  Committee      ..••••    258 

CHAPTER  VL 
The  Commune 357 


THE 

GOYERNMENT  OF  M.  THIEES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE      ELECTIONS. 

This  narrative  opens  on  the  28th  of  January, 
1871,  a  date  of  solemn  import,  that  of  the  capi- 
tulation of  Paris.  On  the  27th  at  midnight  the 
firing  had  ceased,  in  virtue  of  a  verbal  agree- 
ment, which  was  to  be  ratified  on  both  sides 
on  the  following  day.  Early  on  the  morning  of 
the  28th,  M.  Jules  Fa\Te  went  to  Versailles, 
but  Count  Moltke,  who  was  not  satisfied 
with  the  stipulations  that  had  been  agreed  upon, 
showed  but  little  readiness  to  bring  matters 
to  a  conclusion  ;  at  every  moment  some  fresh 
difficulty  was  raised  by  the  Staff,  and  the  armistice 
was  not  signed  until  ten  o'clock  at  night.  It  was 
one  o'clock  a.m.  of  the  29th  when  M.  Jules  Favre 
rejoined  his   colleagues.     The  railway  managers 

VOL.  I.  B 


2  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

had  been  summoned,  for  tlie  first  thing  to  be 
arranged  was  tlie  supply  of  food  to  Paris.  The 
Council,  having  accomplished  this  task,  would  not 
separate  until  all  matters  connected  with  the 
convocation  of  the  Assembly  had  been  agreed 
to.  Time  and  authority  for  the  drawing  up  of  an 
electoral  law  were  alike  wanting.  It  was  resolved 
to  put  in  action,  with  certain  indispensable  modi- 
fications, the  last  electoral  law  of  the  Republic, 
that  of  the  loth  March,  1849,  which  may  be  sum- 
marized as  follows  : — Scrutiny  of  lists,  cantonal 
voting,  the  electorate  at  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
eligibility  at  twenty-five,  no  exclusion  from  either 
electorate  or  eligibility,  except  in  the  case  of 
individuals  under  the  sentence  of  the  law. 

At  a  time  when  so  many  citizens  had  accepted 
public  functions  from  patriotic  motives,  it  was 
considered  expedient  to  suppress  the  greater 
number  of  cases  of  ineligibility  that  had  been 
defined  in  1849,  and  therefore  the  application  of 
Articles  81  to  90  was  suspended.  The  prohibition 
of  the  election  of  prefects  and  sub-prefects  in  the 
department  in  which  they  exercised  their  functions 
was  confirmed.  The  army  was  called  upon  to 
vote,  as  in  1849,  a  measure  rendered  more  than 
ever  necessary  by  the  fact. that  every  Frenchman 
fit  to  carry  arms  was  now  enrolled.  The 
number  of  deputies  was  fixed  at  753  for  conti- 


THE   ELECTIONS.  3 

nental  France,  6  for  Algeria,  and  9  for  the  colonies  : 
768  in  all. 

The  decree  of  the  Council  was  signed  at  early 
dawn,  immediately  inserted  in  the  Journal  Officiel, 
and  placarded  in  Paris  a  few  hours  later.  Orders 
were  issued  for  its  immediate  dissemination  in  the 
departments,  but  it  was  evident  that  this  must  for 
some  days  be  impossible,  or  at  least  very  difiScult. 
The  election  was  fixed  for  the  8th  February, 
and  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  at  Bordeaux 
for  the  12th.  When  M.  Jules  Favre  announced 
these  decisions  to  Count  Bismarck,  the  first 
words  uttered  by  the  Chancellor  were,  "  It  is 
impossible." 

It  was  indeed  impossible  ;  but  nevertheless  it 
was  done. 

More  than  a  third  of  the  territory  of  France 
was  invaded  by  the  enemy,  and  the  administration 
of  the  occupied  departments  was  carried  on  by 
German  prefects.  It  was  necessary  to  entrust 
the  prefectorial  functions  to  the  mayor  of  each 
township,^  and  to  proceed  with  the  elections  by 
sufferance  of  the  conquerors.  The  uninvaded 
departments  were  in  relations  with  M.  Gambetta 
only,  and  notwithstanding  the  raising  of  the  siege, 
communication     between     Paris    and    Bordeaux 

•  This  is  the  nearest  English  equivalent  for  the  French 
"chef-lieu." 

B   2 


"*  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP  M.   THIERS. 

was  slow,  difficult,  and  sometimes  dangerous. 
The  telegraphic  despatches  necessarily  passed 
through  Versailles,  and  were  under  the  control  of 
the  Prussians.  M.  Gambetta  having  telegraphed 
to  M.  Jules  Favre  on  the  30th  January,  was 
replied  to  by  Count  Bismarck,  and  was  in- 
formed in  the  answer  that  the  message  of 
M.  Gambetta  should  be  communicated  to  the 
person  for  whom  it  was  destined  "  as  a  matter  of 
information."  The  railroads  were  in  a  deplorable 
condition,  the  rails  torn  up,  the  permanent  ways 
encumbered,  the  bridges  broken,  the  rolling  stock 
dispersed  or  destroyed.  Only  from  the  31st 
was  it  possible  to  travel  from  Paris  to  Bordeaux 
by  railway,  and  then  the  line  was  broken  at 
Orleans  for  a  distance  of  six  kilometers.  The 
train  leaving  Paris  on  the  31st  January  at  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  did  not  reach  Bordeaux 
until  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
1st  February.  Four  hundred  thousand  French 
soldiers,  and  consequently  four  hundred  thousand 
electors,  were  either  prisoners  in  Germany,  or 
refugees  in  Switzerland.  Six  months  of  war- 
fare had  disorganized  the  municipal  service  ;  the 
lists  had  not  been  revised,  in  many  places  they 
had  disappeared  ;  the  functionaries  were  no  longer 
at  their  posts.  Such  were  the  conditions  under 
which  the  work  of  several   months  in   ordinary 


THE    ELECTIONS.  Ô 

tîmes  liad  to  be  done  witliin  one  week  ;  and,  the 
elections  over,  four  days  only  would  remain  for  the 
transaction  of  the  subsequent  business,  consisting 
of  verification  of  votes,  declaration  of  results, 
and  despatch  of  papers  to  Bordeaux.  The  new 
deputies  would  have  to  set  out  instantly  on  being 
informed  of  their  election  in  order  to  arrive  in  time. 
It  was  easy  to  foresee  that  many  would  find  no 
direct  road  open  to  them,  and  be  obliged  to  make 
roundabout  journeys,  while  others  would  hear 
simultaneously,  in  German  prisons,  of  their  candi- 
dateship  and  their  election.  The  outlook  on  all 
sides  was  full  of  difiiculties  and  hindrances,  and 
finally,  as  if  to  turn  the  strained  situation  into  an  im- 
possible one,  a  conflict  arose  between  the  Govern- 
ment in  Paris  and  the  Delegates  at  Bordeaux. 

In  his  correspondence  with  M.  Jules  Favre 
during  the  siege,  M.  Gambetta  had  frequently 
declared  his  opinion  that  all  the  ministers,  senators, 
councillors  of  state,  prefects,  and  former  official 
candidates  of  the  Empire,  should  be  excluded 
from  the  future  National  Assembly.  Prior  to  his 
departure  from  Paris,  he  had  argued  in  this 
sense  in  the  Government  councils  ;  he  had  not 
prevailed,  and  M.  Gambetta  had  signed,  toge- 
ther with  his  colleagues,  the  decree  of  the 
8th  September,  1870,  of  which  the  new  decree 
was    only  a    formal  reproduction.     During   that 


b  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

long  day  wliicli  M.  Jules  Favre  passed  at  Ver- 
sailles, awaiting  the  ratification  of  the  treaty, 
he  had  to  consider  whether  the  leader  of  the 
Delegates  would  again  give  in  his  adhesion 
to  the  decision  of  his  colleagues,  and  undertake 
the  execution  of  a  decree  of  whose  principle 
he  disapproved. 

In  this  uncertainty,  and  in  order  to  avoid  strife, 
M.  Jules  Favre  resolved  on  sending  a  member  of  the 
Government  armed  with  full  powers  to  Bordeaux, 
and  before  consulting  his  colleagues,  he  announced 
this  resolution,  in  general  terms,  by  a  despatch 
which  Count  Bismarck  undertook  to  transmit, 
and  which  was  received  at  Bordeaux  on  the  29th. 
The  Council  selected  M.  Jules  Simon,  the  former 
deputy  from  the  Gironde,  and  member  of  the 
General  Council  of  the  city  of  Bordeaux,  before 
the  Revolution  of  the  4tli  September.  His 
nomination  was  confirmed,  and  his  instruc- 
tions were  signed  during  the  night  of  the  30th 
January.  He  left  Paris  on  the  following  morning 
for  Bordeaux. 

The  Government  of  Paris  regarded  it  as  ex- 
tremely important  that  the  clause  of  the  decree 
by  which  the  eligibility  of  all  citizens  without 
distinction  was  recognized,  should  be  carried  into 
effect  ;  and  it  was  no  less  important  that  a  con- 
flict with  the  Delegates  should  bo  avoided.     M. 


THE    ELECTIONS.  7 

Jules  Simon  took  with  him  two  decrees  ;  the  first 
was  as  follows  : — "  The  Government  of  the 
National  Defence  directs  M.  Jules  Simon  to  pro- 
ceed to  Bordeaux,  there  to  join  the  Delegates 
in  the  exercise  of  authority  in  concert  with 
his  colleagues,  and  to  carry  into  execution  the 
decrees  of  the  Government  of  National  Defence. 
The  deliberations  of  the  Delegates  shall  be  taken 
by  the  majority  of  votes,  no  member  having  a 
casting  vote.  Paris,  oOth  January,  1871."  The 
latter  stipulation  was  hardly  necessary,  inasmuch 
as  the  number  of  the  Delegates  was  raised  to  five 
by  the  addition  of  M.  Jules  Simon;  and  served 
no  purpose  except  that  of  seriously  altering  the 
position  of  M.  Gambetta,  who  had  hitherto  had 
a  casting  vote.  The  second  decree  reproduced 
the  terms  of  the  first,  with  the  following  addi- 
tion : — "  In  the  unforeseen  case  of  resistance  by 
the  Delegates  to  the  decrees  and  the  orders  of 
the  Government  of  National  Defence,  M.  Jules 
Simon  is  hereby  invested  with  absolutely  full 
power  to  carry  them  into  effect."  The  second 
decree  was  not  to  be  communicated  to  the  Dele- 
gates until  all  hope  of  conciliation  should  have 
been  abandoned. 

When  M.  Jules  Simon  arrived  at  Bordeaux, 
anger  and  consternation  reigned  in  the  city.  The 
missive  addressed  to  M.   Gambetta  on  the  28th, 


8  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIEES. 

had  been  sent  from  Versailles  at  11.15  in  the 
evening.  M.  Jules  Favre  announced  the  surrender 
of  Paris,  the  conclusion  of  an  armistice  of  twenty- 
one  days,  the  summoning  of  an  Assembly  for  the 
12tli  February,  and  the  despatch  to  Bordeaux 
of  a  member  of  the  Government;  but  nothing 
more. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  29th  this 
message  arrived  at  its  destination.  The  whole  of 
the  29th  passed  away  in  the  vain  expectation  of 
further  news.  On  the  30th,  M.  Gambetta  tele- 
graphed to  M.  Jules  Favre,  complaining  of  the 
strange  silence.  Count  Bismarck  received  the 
telegram  ;  did  not  transmit  it  to  the  Government 
in  Paris  until  the  following  day,  the  31st,  but 
himself  replied  at  noon  to  M.  Gambetta,  inform- 
ing him  that  hostilities  were  continuing  "  pend- 
ing agreement  "  before  Belfort,  in  the  Doubs, 
in  Jura,  and  in  Côte  d'Or. 

Although  it  had  long  been  known  that  no 
aid  could  reach  Paris,  and  that  its  supplies  of 
food  were  exhausted,  the  fall  of  the  capital  city 
produced  the  effect  of  an  unexpected  calamity. 
Instead  of  surrender,  there  ought  to  have  been  a 
sortie  en  masse,  the  "  torrential  "  sortie  afterwards 
demanded  so  often  by  the  leaders  of  the  Com- 
mune. Nothing  but  corpses  and  a  desert  should 
have  been  left   for  the    enemy;   but   all   France 


THE    ELECTIONS.  9 

would  not  have  been  in  pawn.  However  great 
the  importance  of  Paris,  after  all  it  was  only 
one  stronghold  which  surrendered.  Why  was 
the  capitulation  signed  by  M.  Jules  Favre  in  the 
name  of  the  Goverument,  and  not  by  the  military 
Governor  in  the  name  of  the  fortress  ?  Why  did 
the  capitulation  include  an  armistice  for  all 
France  (with  the  fatal  exception  of  the  east),  and 
an  undertaking,  given  to  the  enemy,  to  summon 
an  Assembly?  This  capitulation  was  not  only 
a  stipulation  made  for  Paris  ;  it  was  in  reality 
a  preliminary  of  peace.  And  what  would  that 
peace  be,  whither  would  it  lead  us,  if  the  elections 
should  introduce  into  the  National  Assembly  ac- 
complices of  the  Empire,  who,  having  had  power 
in  their  hands  for  eighteen  years,  and  having  been 
dispossessed  of  it  for  barely  six  months,  still  pre- 
served a  portion  of  their  former  influence,  espe- 
cially over  the  rural  populations  ?  Was  there 
not  reason  to  fear  that  they  would  consent  to 
the  completion  of  the  ruin  of  which  they  were 
the  authors,  and  that  they  would  endeavour  to 
restore  the  imperial  dynasty  ? 

These  thoughts  were  working  in  the  mind 
of  M.  Gambetta  during  the  whole  of  the  30th 
January.  Was  this  to  be  the  conclusion  of  all  the 
efforts  made  by  himself  and  his  fellow-labourers 
during  the  past  six  months,  to  defend  the  territory 


10  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIEliS. 

and  found  tlie  Republic  !  After  twenty-four  hours 
of  suspense — without  reflecting  that  M.  Jules 
Favre  had  written  to  him  on  the  28th  at  the  last 
moment,  and  before  he  could  have  consulted  with 
his  colleagues,  that  on  the  29th  and  30th  the  con- 
vention had  to  be  concluded,  the  last  obstacles  to 
be  surmounted,  an  electoral  law  to  be  drawn  up, 
an  envoy  to  Bordeaux  to  be  selected,  his  instruc- 
tions to  be  discussed,  and  the  railroad  to  be  re- 
stored to  working  order — M.  Gambetta  induced 
the  Delegates  to  adopt  an  electoral  law  which 
afiirmed  the  ineligibility  of  the  functionaries  of  the 
Empire,  and  issued  a  proclamation  in  which  the 
Government  of  Paris  was  accused  of  "  culpable 
levity." 

This  proclamation  drew  forth  a  few  days  later 
from  the  Government  of  Paris  an  equally 
angry  reply  ;  it  was  only  a  reprisal  indeed,  but  it 
widened  the  breach  between  the  two  Govern- 
ments. 

Then  came  a  difficult  moment  ;  that  of  the  first 
tussle  between  the  Government  of  Paris  and  the 
Delegates  of  Bordeaux.  It  was  inevitable.  The 
armistice  found  M.  Gambetta  in  the  full  tide 
of  his  exertions,  and  surrounded  by  an  army  of 
fighting-men;  and  it  disarmed  him  just  when 
he  believed  himself  to  be  in  a  condition  to  fight, 
and  even   to   conquer.     It  may  be  said  without 


THE   ELECTIONS.  H 

exaggeration  that  lie  had  performed  wonders.  He 
had  created  armies  and  generals,  won  battles, 
repaired  defeats,  provided  for  the  most  urgent 
necessities  of  order,  rallied  the  timid,  and  inflated 
the  courage  of  others,  resisted  the  intrigues 
and  the  malevolence  of  parties,  effected  bargains, 
raised  loans,  filled  the  arsenals,  and  found  time 
during  all  these  labours  to  write  letters — some 
of  them  admirable, — and  to  deliver  harangues 
which  aroused  enthusiasm  in  their  hearers. 
He  did  not  refuse  to  summon  an  Assembly,  on  the 
contrary,  he  had  long  since  called  for  the  convoca- 
tion of  such  a  body,  but  he  imposed  as  a  condition, 
which  he  would  not  relinquish,  the  exclusion 
of  all  imperialists.  He  would  not  place  power  in 
the  hands  of  men  except  such  as  were,  like  him- 
self, resolved  to  prosecute  the  war,  and  to  found 
the  Republic. 

For  two  days  he  expected  from  Paris  explana- 
tions which  did  not  come  ;  but  then,  as  the  time 
fixed  for  the  elections  was  approaching,  he  issued 
three  decrees,  all  bearing  date  the  31st  January. 
The  first  contained  the  convocation  of  the  As- 
sembly, the  second  the  exclusion  pronounced 
against  all  servants  of  the  Empire;  the  third, 
which  was  to  answer  the  purposes  of  an  electoral 
law,  put  in  action,  with  necessary  modifications, 
the  law  of  the  15th  March,  1849.     It  is  important 


12  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

to  observe  that  at  tlie  very  hour  at  which  the 
Delegates  pubhshed  these  three  decrees,  the 
Government  of  National  Defence  on  its  part  was 
making  other  dispositions,  but  the  decree  pro- 
mulgated in  Paris  on  the  28th,  and  inserted 
in  the  Bulletin  des  Lois  on  the  29th,  w^as  not 
knowm  at  Bordeaux.  By  acting  thus  hastily 
M.  Gambetta  simply  meant  to  be  beforehand 
with  his  colleagues  in  Paris,  he  had  no  deliberate 
intention  of  entering  upon  a  conflict  with  them. 

The  decree  of  exclusion,  signed  by  Cremieux, 
Gambetta,  Glais  Bizoin,  and  Admiral  Fourichon, 
was  posted  on  all  the  walls  when  M.  Jules  Simon 
arrived  at  Bordeaux.     It  ran  as  follows  : — 

"  The  members  of  the  National  Defence,  dele- 
gated to  represent  the  Government,  and  to  exercise 
its  powers  ; 

"  Considering  it  just  that  the  accomplices 
of  the  reign  that  commenced  with  the  deed 
of  the  2nd  December,  and  has  ended  in  the  capi- 
tulation of  Sedan,  bequeathing  to  France  ruin  and 
invasion,  should  be  included  in  the  same  political 
deposition  which  has  been  pronounced  against  the 
accursed  dynasty  whose  guilty  instruments  they 
have  been  ; 

"  Considering  that  this  step  is  a  necessary 
consequence  of  the  responsibility  they  have 
incurred  by  willingly  and  knowingly  aiding  and 


THE    ELECTIONS.  13 

abetting  tlie  ex-Emperor  in  the  fulfilment  of  those 
divers    acts    of    his    Government,  whereby    the 
country  has  been  placed  in  danger  : 
"  Decree, — 

"  Art.  1.  Those  individuals  who,  between  the 
2nd  December,  1851,  and  the  4th  September,  1870, 
have  accepted  the  functions  of  minister,  senator, 
councillor  of  state,  and  prefect,  cannot  be  elected 
representatives  of  the  people  in  the  National 
Assembly. 

"  Art.  2.  Those  individuals  who,  at  the  legisla- 
tive elections  which  have  taken  place  between  the 
2nd  December,  1851,  and  the  4th  September, 
1870,  have  accepted  official  candidateship,  whose 
names  are  to  be  found  on  the  lists  recom- 
mended by  the  prefects  to  the  votes  of  the 
electors,  and  have  been  published  in  the  Moniteur 
Officiel,  as  Government  candidates  of  the  Ad- 
ministration, or  Official  candidates,  are  equally 
excluded  from  eligibility  to  the  National  As- 
sembly. 

"  Art.  3.  Eeturns  of  votes  bearing  the  names 
of  individuals  comprised  in  the  above  cate- 
gories are  absolutely  null  and  void.  These  re- 
turns will  not  be  included  in  the  computation  of 
votes." 

M.  Jules  Simon,  on  his  way  from  the  railway- 
station   to    the  prefecture,    with  M.    Lavertujon, 


14  THE    GOVERNilENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

aliglited  from  the  carriage  and  read  this  decree. 
Without  losing  a  moment  the  Delegates  met. 
The  situation  was  very  easy  to  understand. 
What  did  M.  Jules  Simon  represent  there,  in  the 
midst  of  his  colleagues,  who  were  divided  between 
anger  and  despair  ?  He  represented  the  capitula- 
tion. Of  what  was  he  the  bearer  ?  Of  the  order 
to  retreat,  to  disown  themselves;  the  order  for 
M.  Gambetta  to  renounce  a  long-cherished  idea, 
concerning  which  he  had  written  to  M.  Jules 
Favre,  "If  you  adopt  it,  I  will  proceed  with  the 
elections  ;  if  you  reject  it,  I  will  not  do  so." 

On  his  entrance  into  the  apartment  where  his 
colleagues  awaited  him,  M.  Jules  Simon  was 
assailed  by  bitter  reproaches  on  the  score  of 
the  capitulation,  the  armistice,  and  the  situation 
in  which  the  Army  of  the  East  was  placed. 
M.  Glais  Bizoin  has  acknowledged  this  violence  of 
language  in  his  pamphlet  entitled,  Cinq  Mois  de 
Dictature.  "  M.  Jules  Simon  allowed  himself," 
says  the  author,  "  to  be  reviled."  M.  Jules  Simon 
afterwards  boasted  in  the  tribune  that  he  had 
done  so,  for  he  was  in  nowise  ashamed  of  the  fact. 
Charged  as  he  was  with  great  interests,  he  had  no 
riofht  to  think  of  himself. 

To  the  reproaches  directed  against  the  capitu- 
lation, he  might  have  replied  .that  no  one  had 
striven  harder  than  he  to  prevent  or  to  resist  it  ; 


THE    ELECTIONS.  15 

tliat  in  his  capacity  as  president  of  tlie  Commission 
of  Supplies,  he  had  delayed  until  the  stronghold 
had  victuals  for  only  eight  more  days  before  he 
gave  "warning  to  the  Government;  that  he  had 
insisted  on  the  last  council  of  war,  and  when  the 
generals  had  renounced  the  attempt  at  a  last  sortie, 
a  "  sortie  of  despair,"  that  he  had  taken  it  upon 
himself  to  assemble  the  colonels  and  ascertain 
their  opinion  ;  that  Paris  had  surrendered,  after 
five  months  of  heroic  resistance  to  cold,  epidemic 
disease,  bombardment,  and  famine.  He  might 
have  pleaded  that  the  Government  thus  severely 
condemned  was  guilty  only  of  having  failed 
to  execute  an  impossible  task,  that  of  raising 
the  blockade  of  a  place  besieged  by  a  great  army, 
without  external  aid;  that  neither  he  nor  those 
who  now  attacked  him  had  ever  believed  that 
Paris  could  save  itself  by  its  own  strength  only  ; 
that  this  Government  now  accused  of  supineness 
and  incapacity  had  completed  the  ramparts,  cast 
cannon,  armed  and  drilled  300,000  men,  prevented 
civil  war,  checked  riot,  made  supplies  last  for  five 
months  which  every  one  had  believed  to  be  in- 
sufiBcient  for  more  than  a  few  weeks  ;  that  the  army 
of  rescue  so  often  announced  in  despatches  that 
were  now  menacing,  anon  encouraging,  had  never 
made  its  appearance.  Also,  that  if  the  governor 
were  guilty,  as  his  accusers  declared,  of  not  having 


16  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

made  sorties  and  fought  battles  often  enoiigli,  tlie 
other  generals  who  had  twice  held  councils  of  war, 
on  the  31st  December  and  the  16th  January,  were 
as  guilty  as  he,  since  none  of  them  had  proposed 
or  procured  the  acceptance  of  a  new  plan  ;  that 
after  the  battle  of  Buzenval  not  the  generals  only 
but  the  colonels  also  had  declared  it  impossible  for 
Paris  to  raise  the  blockade  by  her  own  strength,  and 
that  a  sortie,  whether  partial  or  general,  could  have 
no  other  result  than  a  butchery,  without  advantage 
to  the  defence.  He  might  have  pleaded  that  at 
the  moment  of  the  capitulation  there  remained 
only  food  enough — and  such  food  ! — for  one  week  ; 
that  Paris  was  threatened  with  death  by  famine 
should  the  state  of  the  railroads  retard  the 
revictualling  of  the  city,  as  there  was  reason 
to  fear  ;  that  the  enemy  was  aware  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  at  the  commencement  of  the  negotia- 
tions had  proposed  the  recall  of  Napoleon  III., 
the  convocation  of  the  former  legislative  body, 
the  military  occupation  of  Paris,  when  the  Na- 
tional Guard  should  be  disarmed,  the  regiments 
deprived  of  their  colours,  and  the  officers  of  their 
swords,  and  the  garrison  carried  as  prisoners 
into  Germany.  Only  after  a  long  and  desperate 
struggle,  and  reiterated  threats  of  complete  rup- 
ture, had  less  odious  terms  been  obtained.  M. 
Jules  Simon  might  have  added  that  the  armistice 


THE    ELECTIONS,  17 

did  not  apply  to  the  armies  of  tlie  provinces  until 
three  days  after  it  was  signed  ;  that  on  the  30th 
January  the  army  of  the  east  had  crossed  the 
Swiss  frontier;  and  that  if  an  omission  had  been 
made  in  the  despatch  of  the  28th  it  was  indeed  to 
be  regretted,  but  had  no  influence  upon  the  fate 
of  our  army.  Instead,  however,  of  entering  upon 
a  discussion  which  would  have  been  designedly 
prolonged,  and  might  have  been  interminable, 
M.  Jules  Simon  refused  to  make  any  reply  until 
the  electoral  question  had  been  settled. 

He  had  no  trouble  in  proving  its  urgency, 
for  two  contradictory  decrees  were  actually  then 
promulgated.  He  warned  his  colleagues  at  Bor- 
deaux that  the  Government  of  Paris  neither  could 
nor  would  yield  on  the  point  of  ineligibility.  He 
appealed  to  the  supreme  authority  of  universal 
suffrage,  before  which  an  established  Government 
is  obliged  to  bow,  and,  with  much  more  reason, 
one  newly  organized  in  an  emergency.  Universal 
suffrage  is  the  expression  of  the  national  will  :  in 
the  name  of  what  principle,  in  the  name  of  what 
interests  would  the  delegates  presume  to  prescribe 
laws,  or  mark  out  limits  for  it  ?  Would  the 
Assembly  produced  by  the  Bordeaux  decree  be  a 
National  Assembly  ?  No,  it  would  be  a  party  As- 
sembly. Under  such  conditions  would  its  authority 
be  submitted  to  by  France  or  recognized  abroad  ? 

VOL.  I.  0 


18  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIEES. 

After  lia\âng  so  frequently  reproached  the  Empire 
with  official  candidateship,  were  we  to  adopt  that 
system  more  boldly  and  on  a  larger  scale  ? 
When  we  might  found  the  Republic  upon  the 
desire  of  the  country,  should  we  base  it  upon  a 
decree  of  Messieurs  Gambetta,  Crémieux,  Glais 
Bizoin,  and  Fourichon  ?  Even  taking  into  account 
the  narrowest  political  interest  only,  could  it  be 
believed  that  five  months  after  Sedan  the 
electors  would  vote  for  the  accomplices  of  the 
Empire?  Was  a  handful  of  Bonapartists, reduced 
to  the  status  of  a  trumpery  minority  on  the  benches 
of  the  Chamber,  more  to  be  dreaded  than  an  entire 
party  outlawed  by  the  nation,  and  who  would 
have  the  right  to  call  our  own  principles,  those 
principles  upon  which  the  public  peace  rests,  to 
witness  against  us  ?  The  Bonapartist  deputies, 
it  was  said,  would  lead  the  Chamber  into  the 
acceptance  of  a  disgraceful  peace.  Was  not  talk 
of  this  kind  the  supposition  of  a  Bonapartist 
majority,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  impossible  ?  Was 
it  not  even  a  calumny  against  the  Bonapartists,  to 
whom  as  our  enemies  justice  was  due  ?  Six  hun- 
dred Frenchmen,  whatever  their  opinions  might 
be,  chosen  by  their  fellow-citizens,  would  make 
peace  if  it  must  be  so,  or  would  continue  the  war 
if  they  could.  AVas  it  really  a  disgraceful  peace 
that  was  feared  ?  was  it  not  rather  any  peace,  no 


THE    ELECTIONS.  19 

matter  on  wliat  terms  ?  Was  it  war  à  outrance^  a 
vs^ar  of  extermination  tliat  was  desired  ?  Was 
such  a  war  possible  ?  Was  it  just  ?  Was  it  even 
so  patriotic  as  it  was  sincerely  believed  to  be  ? 
What  would  it  lead  us  to  ?  To  the  turning  of 
France  into  another  Poland.  A  glorious  struggle 
had  been  carried  on  for  four  months,  but  our  best 
soldiers  were  either  dead  or  in  captivity,  many  of 
our  generals  were  prisoners,  the  materials  of  war 
were  becoming  exhausted  ;  the  country  was 
agitated,  a  peace  party  was  already  formed,  and 
was  growing  in  numbers  day  by  day.  Paris  had 
yielded  at  last;  there  was  no  longer  room  for 
victory,  but  only  for  heroic  defeat.  We  were 
marching  either  to  exhaustion  or  destruction. 
The  abandonment  of  us  by  Europe  was  evident 
and  complete.  Was  it  to  be  eternal  ?  A  people 
who  is  only  conquered  may  always  revive. 
Sedan,  like  Jena,  may  have  its  morrow.  Between 
a  war  of  extermination  and  a  conditional  peace  who 
should  be  the  judge,  if  not  the  people,  the  whole 
people,  voting  with  full  power  and  freedom  ?  M. 
Jules  Simon  did  not  ask  his  colleagues  to  abrogate 
their  decree,  he  conceded  all  to  them  except  that 
impossible  clause,  the  mutilation  of  Universal 
Suffrage.  But  he  reasoned,  entreated,  and  com- 
manded in  vain  ;  all  failed  before  the  invincible 
determination  of  M.  Gambetta,  M.  Crémieux,  M. 

c  2 


20  TUE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

Glais  Bizoin,  and  Admirai  Fouriclion,  who  persisted 
in  maintaining  the  Bordeaux  decree  with  the 
ineligibility  clause  intact. 

Before  leaving  for  Bordeaux,  and  during  the 
long  hours  of  the  journey,  M.  Jules  Simon  had 
reflected  profoundly  on  the  contingencies  that 
might  arise,  and  he  had  made  up  his  mind  that  he 
would  neither  yield,  nor  have  recourse  to  an  open 
rupture,  unless  it  should  prove  absolutely  im- 
possible to  avoid  it.  He  firmly  believed  that 
France  could  not  be  saved  by  an  irregularly  elected 
Assembly,  and  he  was  no  less  firmly  persuaded 
that  the  country  could  not  endure  a  struggle 
between  two  sections  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  perceived  by  the  reception  he  had  met 
with  on  entering  the  house  of  M.  Crémieux, 
and  by  the  first  words  which  were  interchanged, 
that  he  should  gain  nothing  by  discussion.  Ought 
he  to  rise  at  the  conclusion  of  the  sitting  of  the 
Council,  protest  against  the  resolutions  of  his 
colleagues,  read  to  them  the  document  that  in- 
vested him  with  plenary  authority,  and  then  retire, 
after  having  given  them  notice  that  he  was  about 
to  promulgate  the  Paris  decree  without  their  con- 
currence ?  By  acting  thus  he  should  indeed  free 
himself  from  his  responsibility,  but  he  might 
probably  encounter  a  check  ;  in  any  case,  such  a 
proceeding  would  be  a  commencement  of  strife. 


THE    ELECTIONS.  21 

He  had  gone  from  the  railway-station  to  the 
Prefecture,  and  from  thence  to  the  house  of 
M.  Crémieux,  without  seeing  any  one.  The  city 
was  hke  a  camp.  M.  Gambetta  ruled  over  it. 
M.  Jules  Simon,  knowing  that  his  colleagues 
would  be  as  averse  to  kindling  civil  war  as  he 
was,  believed  that  if  he  had  the  municipality  of 
Bordeaux  on  his  side,  he  would  be  able  to  bring 
about  an  arrangement.  The  Mayor,  M.  Fourcaud, 
now  a  member  of  the  Senate,  and  the  municipal 
councillors,  who  had  been  informed  of  his 
arrival,  presented  themselves  at  this  opportune 
moment,  and  were  ushered  into  the  hall  where 
the  Delegates  were  deliberating.  They  were  all 
his  personal  friends,  his  electors,  promoters  of  his 
election,  members  of  his  committee.  In  their 
presence  the  discussion  was  renewed  with  more 
calmness.  M.  Jules  Simon  explained  the  dissen- 
sion which  had  arisen,  gave  his  reasons,  and  asked 
them  whom  they  would  obey.  M.  Gambetta  in 
his  turn  spoke  with  great  eloquence  and  vehe- 
mence. The  answer  of  the  Municipal  Council  was 
that  they  would  not  dissociate  themselves  from  the 
Delegates,  and  that  the  elections  at  Bordeaux 
must  take  place  in  conformity  with  the  decree 
that  had  been  posted  on  the  walls  in  the  morning. 
The  Major  warned  M.  Jules  Simon  that  this 
resolution  would  also  be  adopted  by  the  National 


22  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

Guard  and  the  immense  majority  of  the  popula- 
tion ;  certainly  by  the  whole  of  the  Republican 
portion.  M.  Jules  Simon  repeated  that  he 
had,  for  his  own  part,  undertaken  the  task 
of  securing  absolute  freedom  of  choice  to  the 
electors  ;  that  it  was,  to  his  mind,  a  question  of 
principle  and  of  public  safety;  that  he  was  resolved 
to  succeed,  and  that,  before  the  elections  were 
proceeded  with,  the  whole  of  France  should  know 
that  the  Government  of  the  National  Defence 
desired  free  elections  and  a  Chamber  which  should 
represent,  not  a  party,  but  the  country.  He  added, 
"  You  are  entering  into  a  struggle  with  the  Go- 
vernment." They  answered,  "  We  know  no  other 
Government  than  that  which  is  here.  We  greet 
your  entry  into  it  with  pleasure.  We  have  obeyed 
it  for  four  months  past,  and  we  will  continue  to 
obey  such  resolutions  as  shall  be  adopted  by  the 
majority  of  the  members  present." 

The  sitting  of  the  Council  terminated  at  five 
o'clock,  and  on  its  conclusion  M.  Jules  Simon  had 
interviews  with  M.  Glais  Bizoin  and  Admiral 
Fourichon,  separately.  Each  of  these  gentlemen 
repeated  to  him  that  he  was  resolved  to  follow  the 
majority  of  the  Delegates,  and  M.  Glais  Bizoin 
added  that  he  personally  approved  the  spirit  of 
the  Bordeaux  decree  and  the  exclusion  of  the 
Bonapartists.      Admiral   Fourichon    spoke    in   a 


THE    ELECTIONS.  23 

totally  different  sense  ;  he  was  of  the  opinion  of 
M.  Jules  Simon  and  the  Government  of  Paris,  and 
he  regretted  that  the  Delegates  had  refused  to  yield. 
The  popularity  of  M.  Gambetta  with  the  Re- 
publican party  was  immense  ;  so  great,  indeed,  that 
three  days  afterwards,  on  Sunday,  February  4th, 
a  public  meeting  was  convened  at  the  Grand 
Theatre,  in  order  to  confer  the  Dictatorship  upon 
him.  He  had  the  good  sense  to  refuse  to  attend 
the  meeting,  and  to  disavow  all  complicity  with 
the  projects  of  his  fanatical  friends.  M.  Jules 
Simon,  on  the  contrary,  was  deposed  from  his 
former  popularity  ;  and  held  accountable,  as  were 
all  the  members  of  the  Government  of  Paris,  for 
the  capitulation.  The  truth  is  that,  but  for  them, 
the  siege  would  not  have  lasted  two  months  ;  but 
this  truth,  which,  even  now,  almost  every  one 
denies,  would  not  have  been  believed  by  any  single 
individual  on  the  day  after  the  surrender.  M. 
Glais  Bizoin  did  justice  to  the  Government,  but 
only  up  to  the  moment  of  the  capitulation  "  There 
should  have  been  a  sortie,"  he  said  ;  "  the  300,000 
men  of  the  National  Guard  and  the  army  ought 
to  have  been  hurled  upon  the  enemy."  He  declared 
that  he  would  yield  to  the  majority,  but  should 
vote  with  M.  Gambetta  and  M.  Crémieux.  Admiral 
Fourichon,  who  cherished  no  illusions  whatever 
about   the   propriety  of    a    "  torrential    sortie," 


24  THE    GOVEKNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

founded  his  objection  upon  the  resolution  an- 
nounced by  M.  Glais  Bizoin.  "  "What  would  be 
the  use  of  voting  with  you  ?"  he  inquired  of 
M.  Jules  Simon,  *'  we  should  never  be  more  than 
two  ao^ainst  three." 

M.  Jules  Simon  did  not  fail  to  point  out  to  his 
two  colleagues  that  the  Delegates,  strictly  speak- 
ing, formed  only  a  portion  of  the  Government  of 
Paris,  that  the  Paris  decree  was  signed  by  seven 
members  of  the  Government,  while  that  of 
Bordeaux  was  signed  by  only  four,  so  that  there 
was  a  majority  for  the  Paris  decree.  He  was 
answered  that  this  matter  was  not  one  of  logic, 
that  the  majority  mustered  at  Bordeaux,  and 
that  at  the  bottom  of  all  this  there  lay  a 
question  of  civil  war. 

M.  Thiers  was  "at  Bordeaux.  M.  Jules  Simon 
Avent  to  him,  and  laid  the  facts  of  the  case  before 
him.  The  first  sentence  uttered  by  M.  Thiers 
was,  "  Your  decree  must  be  published."  It  was 
by  no  means  clear  that  such  a  step  would  be 
possible.  The  Government  existing  at  Bordeaux 
refused  to  recognize  this  decree.  Could  it  be 
believed  that  in  the  face  of  that  refusal  they  would 
quietly  allow  it  to  be  published  in  the  newspapers 
and  posted  on  the  walls  side  by  side  with  their 
own  opposition  manifesto  ?  If  publicity  were 
denied  to  it  within  the  city  of  Bordeaux,  was  it  to 


THE    ELECTIONS.  25 

be  hoped  that  they  could  succeed  in  publishing  it 
outside  ?  It  was  clear  that  the  BiUletin  des  Lois^ 
which  had  been  despatched  by  the  Paris  post, 
had  not  been  suffered  to  pass  the  Loire.  What 
had  become  of  the  copies  which  M.  Jules  Simon 
himself  had  distributed  on  his  way  from  Paris  to 
Bordeaux  ?  Those  persons  who  had  received  them 
from  his  own  hand  at  Orleans,  Vierzon,  Limoges, 
and  Perigueux  had  been  unable  to  get  them  re- 
printed for  distribution,  or  published  in  the  news- 
papers. It  was  useless  to  resort  to  a  simple 
announcement  by  telegraph,  because  the  officials 
would  be  forbidden  to  transmit  the  message.  The 
post  remained,  but  this  also  was  far  from  being 
a  safe  expedient.  ÎSTevertheless  M.  Jules  Simon 
determined  to  try  it,  and  while  he  was  with  M. 
Thiers,  M.  Lavertujon  and  some  other  trustworthy 
and  devoted  friends  prepared  the  packets.  None 
of  those  which  contained  printed  matter  reached 
their  destination;  only  private  letters  addressed 
to  non-official  persons  were  allowed  to  pass. 

But  even  had  the  decree  forced  its  way 
through  every  obstacle,  it  could  only  have  reached 
the  departments  as  a  piece  of  news,  and  news  in  a 
sense  proscribed,  whereas  the  Bordeaux  decree, 
transmitted  by  official  despatch,  was  already  posted 
up  everywhere.  The  prefects,  perceiving  that  a 
struggle  was  going  on  between  two  sections  of 


26  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

the  Government,  would  consider  themselves  free 
to  choose  between  the  rival  decrees.  Who  were 
those  prefects  ?  They  were  friends  and  creatures 
of  M.  Gambetta,  who  had  selected  and  appointed 
them,  and  who  had  for  four  months  had  sole  and 
entire  authority  over  them.  The  greater  number 
were  so  devoted  to  the  policy  of  war  to  the 
knife,  that  it  might  easily  be  foreseen  they  would 
carry  the  Bordeaux  decree  into  execution  with 
extreme  reluctance.  As  for  the  Paris  decree, 
they  would  reject  it  at  once,  holding  it  of  no 
account  whatever.  Supposing  that  even  a  few 
of  them  were  to  accept  the  policy  of  the  Paris 
decree,  their  number  would  be  very  small,  the 
elections  would  be  carried  on  under  various  con- 
ditions in  the  several  places  ;  there  could  be  no 
result  except  trouble  and  confusion.  In  short, 
nothing  could  be  done.  No  action  of  any  kind 
was  possible  so  long  as  the  Delegates  should 
persist  in  their  opposition. 

M.  Thiers  did  not  require  a  statement  of  these 
objections  from  M.  Jules  Simon  ;  he  had  foreseen 
them  all.  But,  at  first,  perceiving  no  other 
issue  than  a  struggle  between  the  two  sections  of 
the  Government,  he  inclined  to  advise  immediate 
action.  "  You  have  no  time  to  wait,"  were  his 
words  ;  "  you  will  have  at  least  a  legion  of  the 
National  Guard  with  you,  and  you  may  perhaps 


THE    ELECTIONS.  27 

reckon  on  the  neutrality  of  tlie  rest.  You  must 
feel  the  pulse  of  General  Billot's  troops.  Dispose 
of  me  as  you  will,"  he  added,  with  his  usual 
resolution  and  promptitude,  "  if  my  name  or  my 
presence  can  serve  you,  I  am  ready." 

M.  Jules  Simon  was  of  opinion  that  recourse 
to  forcible  measures,  even  supposing  it  to  be  suc- 
cessful, a  result  of  which  he  felt  by  no  means  certain, 
would  be  a  calamity.  Before  coming  to  a  decision 
of  so  serious  a  nature  he  wished  to  be  able  to  plead 
the  excuse  of  absolute  necessity,  and  the  exhaustion 
of  all  other  resources.  Admiral  Fourichon  was 
held  back  solely  by  his  apprehension  of  civil  war  ; 
M.  Glais  Bizon  declared  that  he  would  submit  to 
the  majority,  if  a  majority  could  be  formed  at 
Bordeaux.  This  end  could  be  obtained  by 
bringing  down  three  new  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment from  Paris.  They  might  arrive  at  Bordeaux 
on  the  6th  February  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
There  would  be  time  to  telegraph  to  the  depart- 
ments, on  this  occasion  in  the  name  of  the  entire 
Government,  and  under  such  conditions  as  these 
disobedience  would  be  impossible.  Doubtless  the 
despatch  would  arrive  very  late  on  the  day  or  the 
day  but  one  before  the  vote  ;  but  the  preparations 
for  the  elections  were  not  in  question  at  all; 
only  an  exclusion  had  to  be  repealed,  and 
this  could  be  effected  at  the   last  hour.     After 


28  THE    GOVEENMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

some  reflection  M.  Thiers  approved  of  this  plan. 
He  recommended  M.  Jules  Simon  to  send 
a  number  of  letters  to  the  departments,  to 
prefects,  newspapers,  friends,  and  former  col- 
leagues, and  he  strongly  advised  him,  while 
believing  himself  certain  of  peace,  to  prepare  for 
war.  M.  Jules  Simon  informed  M.  Thiers  that  it 
was  his  intention  to  see  the  generals,  but  in  the 
utmost  secrecy,  also  certain  influential  officers  of 
the  National  Guard,  and  magistrates;  that  he 
would  leave  nothing  to  chance,  but  appeal  to  the 
patriotism  of  all  ;  and  that  he  still  entertained  a 
strong  hope  of  success  without  any  open  strife. 

This  plan  was  carried  out  from  point  to  point. 
The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  the  w^riting  to 
Paris,  and  as  M.  Thiers  had  advised  that  the 
post  should  not  be  employed,  but  that  the  letters 
should  be  confided  to  a  friend,  M.  Cochery  was 
selected,  and  he  consented  to  start  that  same 
evening.  He  stopped  at  Orleans,  and  from  thence 
made  known  to  M.  Jules  Favre  what  was  passing 
at  Bordeaux.  M.  Alfred  Liouville  left  on  the 
following  day,  and  was  present  in  Paris  on  the  4th 
February  at  the  sitting  of  the  Council  in  which  the 
Bordeaux  decree  was  officially  annulled. 

"While  M.  Cochery  and  M.  Albert  Liouville  were 
on  their  way  to  Paris,  M.  Jules  Simon  saw  the 
representatives  of  the  press,  who  were  then  very 


THE    ELECTIONS.  29 

numerous  at  Bordeaux,  and  unreservedly  explained 
to  them  the  mission  with  which  he  was   charged. 
He  wrote,  and  the  friends  who  were  with  him  wrote 
for  him,  a  great  number  of   letters  for  the  de- 
partments, and,  as  he  feared  that  his  handwriting 
misfht  be  recoc^nized,  or  that  letters  addressed  to 
political  personages  would  be  intercepted,  he  ad- 
dressed several  to  merchants,  and  to  Professors, 
and  had   the  addresses  written  by  other  hands. 
Afterwards    he     conferred     with     the     generals 
and  magistrates.     One   general  who  had   in  the 
first   instance    promised    him    assistance   in    the 
improbable  case  of  his  finding  himself  obliged  to 
resort  to  force,  refused  it  at  the   last   moment. 
Another,  General  Foltz,  promised  unreservedly  to 
support  him.     The  minister  explained  to  him  that 
he  had  certain  reasons  for  expecting  the  resigna- 
tion of  M.   Gambetta  on  Monday,   the  6th  Feb- 
ruary, at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  but  that  if, 
contrary   to    all    expectation,    the   circumstances 
which  would  bring  about  that  resignation  did  not 
take  place,  the  Prefecture  must  be  seized  without 
a  moment's  delay,  so  that  the  postal  and  telegraphic 
services  should   be  available  during  the  whole  of 
the  afternoon.     He  added  that  the  surest  means  of 
averting  a  collision  would  be  to  discourage  resist- 
ance by  the  display  of  an  imposing  military  force. 
The  General  replied  that  he  had  only  a  very 


30  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

small  number  of  men  under  his  command,  and  that 
the  power  of  authorizing  the  transfer  of  regiments 
from  one  territorial  division  to  another  was  ex- 
clusively reserved  to  the  Minister  of  War;  but 
M.  Jules  Simon  had  foreseen  this  difficulty  before 
lie  left  Paris,  and  was  the  bearer  of  a  blank  decree 
of  nomination  of  a  Minister  of  War,  whicli  he  filled 
up  with  the  name  of  General  Foltz.  This  docu- 
ment was  then  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  first 
president,  M.  Cellerier,  with  all  the  decrees 
necessary  to  empower  him  to  proceed  with  the 
elections.  In  case  of  M.  Jules  Simon's  being 
arrested  before  the  6th  February,  M.  Cellerier  was 
to  publish  these  decrees  immediately,  and  General 
Foltz  was  to  seize  the  Prefecture,  according  to  a 
carefully  prepared  plan  which  could  not  fail  of 
success. 

Thus  everything  was  provided  for.  On  the 
morning  of  the  6th  three  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Paris  were  to  arrive  at  Bordeaux,  and 
terminate  the  crisis  by  their  presence.  If  by  any 
unforeseen  accident  they  should  not  be  in  the 
train  which  would  arrive  at  nine  o'clock,  the 
troops  were  to  be  drawn  up  around  the  Prefecture 
at  eleven  a.m.;  at  noon  the  orders  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Paris  would  be  carried  by  telegraph  into 
all  the  departments.  Thus,  at  any  rate,  freedom 
of  election  would  be  secured. 


THE   ELECTIONS.  31 

On  the  2nd  February,  in  the  evening,  two  im- 
portant personages,  both  members  of  the  Assembly, 
and  one  of  whom  had  been  for  a  long  time  a 
minister,  called  on  M.  Jules  Simon,  and  made 
strenuous  efforts  to  induce  him  to  take  forcible 
measures  on  the  following  day.  They  reiterated 
their  arguments  many  times.  A  struggle  between 
the  Governments  of  Paris  and  Bordeaux,  that  is 
to  say,  between  republicans,  did  not  alarm  them, 
and  they  affirmed,  with  no  little  temerity,  that  a 
portion  of  the  National  Guard  was  with  them. 
The  representatives  of  the  Monarchical  Press  also 
urged  M.  Simon  in  the  same  sense.  He,  how- 
ever, resisted  all  this  pressure,  without  making 
known  either  his  hopes  or  his  resolutions,  but 
merely  declaring,  as  he  had  not  ceased  to  do 
since  his  arrival,  that  he  was  confident  of 
success. 

On  the  morning  of  the  3rd,  the  following  pro- 
clamation, despatched  to  the  prefects  by  telegraph, 
was  posted  on  all  the  walls  of  Bordeaux  : — 

"  Citizens,  I  have  received  the  following  tele- 
gram,— 

"  '  Versailles,  6. 40  p.m. 

"  '  Monsieur  Leon  Gambetta,  at  Bordeaux. 
"  *  In   the   name    of  the   freedom  of  Elections 
stipulated  by  the  armistice  convention  I  protest 
against  the   disposition  emanating   from  you    to 


32  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

deprive  numerous  categories  of  Frencli  citizens 
of  the  right  of  being  elected  to  the  Assembly. 
Elections  made  under  a  rule  of  arbitrary  oppres- 
sion cannot  confer  the  rights  which  the  armistice 
convention  recognized  as  those  of  deputies  freely 
elected.^  "  '  (Signed)         Bismarck.* 

*'  Citizens,  we  were  saying  a  few  days  ago  that 
Prussia,  in  order  to  satisfy  her  ambition,  was 
reckoning  upon  an  Assembly  into  which,  owing  to 
the  shortness  of  the  allotted  time,  and  to  our 
material  difficulties  of  every  kind,  the  adherents 
and  accomplices  of  the  fallen  dynasty,  allies  of 
Count  von  Bismarck  would  be  admitted.  The 
decree  of  exclusion  of  the  31st  January  de- 
feated these  hopes.  The  insolent  pretension  put 
forward  by  the  Prussian  Minister  to  interfere  in 
the  constitution  of  a  French  Assembly  is  the  most 
striking  justification  of  the  measures  taken  by  the 
Government  of  the  Republic.  The  lesson  will 
not  be  lost  upon  auy  who  possess  the  sentiment 
of  National  honour. 

"  The  Minister  of  the  Interior  and  of  War, 

"L.    GAMBm'A." 

Nothing  indeed  could  be  more  opposed  to  the 

right  of  nations,  to  justice,  and  to  propriety,  than 

Count  Bismarck's  despatch  ;  nor  could   anything 

^  This  message  was  in  singularly  bad  French.     The  above  is  a 
literal  translation. 


THE    ELECTIONS.  33 

have  been  more  ill-judged.  It  was  openly 
averred  by  tlie  followers  of  M.  Gambetta  that  M. 
Jules  Simon  and  liis  colleagues  in  Paris  were 
neither  more  nor  less  than  agents  of  Count 
Bismarck.  Added  to  this,  the  Monarchists, 
by  taking  sides  with  M.  Jules  Simon,  made  it 
appear  that  he  was  an  enemy  of  the  Republic  and 
of  Republicans.  M.  Jules  Simon,  fully  alive  to 
the  peril  of  the  situation,  knowing  besides  that  he 
could  no  longer  count  on  the  adhesion  of  any  of 
the  Delegates,  and  having  taken  all  the  necessary 
measures  for  securing  his  freedom  of  action  on 
the  Ctli,  went  to  the  Prefecture,  where  his  col- 
leagues were  assembled,  and  having  read  aloud, 
to  them  the  decree  which  conferred  full  powers 
upon  him,  announced  that  he  was  about  officially 
to  annul  their  decree  of  the  31st  January, 
by  which  former  functionaries  of  the  Empire  were 
declared  ineligible  for  election  to  the  National 
Assembly.  Having  made  this  announcement,  he 
immediately  quitted  the  Council,  accompanied  by 
M.  Lavertujon,  without  replying  to  the  vehement 
interpellation  by  which  he  was  assailed.  From 
thence  he  went  to  the  office  of  the  Gironde  news- 
paper, and  there,  in  concert  with  M.  Lavertujon, 
Secretary  to  the  Government,  who  had  come  with 
him  from  Paris  to  assist  him  in  this  crisis,  he  drew 
up  the  following  proclamation  : — 

VOL.  I.  D 


34  THE    GOYEENMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

"  Citizens, 

*'  This  morning  at  45  minutes  past  8  o'clock,  I 
received  the  despatch  of  Count  Bismarck. 

"I  understand  and  share  the  irritation  to  which 
that  despatch  lias  given  rise. 

"  But  the  decree  of  the  Government  now  seated 
in  Paris  is  dated  the  28th.  January;  it  was  in- 
serted on  the  29th  in  the  Journal  Officiel  and 
the  Bulletin  des  Lois  ;  and  I  am  here  to  exact  its 
application. 

"  I  have  never  hesitated  in  requiring  the  exe- 
cution of  that  decree,  and  I  exact  it  to-day,  as  I 
exacted  it  yesterday,  because  I  beheve  it  to  be 
indispensable  to  the  safety  of  my  country. 

"  It  matters  little  to  me  that  political  adver- 
saries agree  upon  this  point  with  the  Repub- 
lican party  to  which  I  belong.  At  the  present 
moment  everything  must  yield  to  the  most  in- 
dispensable of  civic  duties. 

"  The  decree  of  Bordeaux  only  being  known  to 
the  prefects,  and  being  in  course  of  execution  in 
the  departments, 

"  Seeing  that  there  is  Urgency, 

*'  In  virtue  of  the  powers  conferred  upon  me 
by  the  Government  of  National  Defence,  and 
which  are  thus  conceived  : 

"  In  the  unforeseen  case  of  resistance  by  the 
Delegates  to  the  decrees  and  orders  of  the  Govern- 


THE    ELECTIONS.  35 

ment  of  National  Defence,  M.  Jules  Simon  is  in- 
vested by  these  presents  with  absolute  full  powers 
to  carry  them  into  execution. 

"  Done  at  Paris,  the  30th  January,  1871. 
"  (Signed)  Jules  Favre,  Ernest  Picard,  Gene- 
ral   Trochu,  Emmanuel    Arago, 
Gamier  Pages,  Eugène  Pelletan. 
"  I   make  known  to  the  public  the  following 
decree, — • 

"  Article  1. — The  elections  shall  take  place  in 
all  the  departments  on  the  8th  February,  con- 
formably to  the  decree  published  at  Bordeaux  by 
the  Delegates  of  the  Government,  but  with  the  fol- 
lowing modification:  the  choice  of  the  electors  may 
be  exercised  upon  every  French  citizen,  not  legally 
ineligible,  and  having  attained  the  prescribed  age. 
Every  kind  of  incapacity  set  forth  by  former  laws 
and  decrees,  and  especially  by  the  decree  published 
at  Bordeaux  on  the  31st  January,  is  abolished. 

"  Article  2. — The  Assembly  shall  meet  at  Bor- 
deaux on  Sunday,  the  12th  February.    The  Govern- 
ment of  the  National  Defence  will  immediately 
place  its  powers  in  the  hands  of  the  Assembly. 
'*  Done  at  Bordeaux,  the  3rd  February,  1871. 
"  The  Delegate  Member  of  the  Government, 

"  Jules  Simon. 
"  The  Delegate  Secretary  of  the  Government, 
"  André  Lavertujon." 

D   2 


36  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP    M.    THIERS. 

The  Gironde  printed  this  document  at  once, 
and  supplied  a  great  number  of  proofs,  which 
were  sent  to  all  the  newspapers.  It  also 
printed  large  posters,  which  were  immediately 
distributed  to  the  bill-stickers.  A  letter  was 
written  to  the  Mayor  of  Bordeaux,  in  which  he 
was  requested  to  take  immediate  steps  for  the 
official  publication  ;  and  a  copy  of  the  proclama- 
tion was  sent  to  the  telegraph  office  for  prompt 
transmission  to  the  prefects. 

These  efforts  to  procure  the  promulgation  of 
the  decree  were  useless,  as  was  to  be  expected, 
and  as  M.  Jules  Simon  had  known  from  the  first 
that  they  would  be.  The  Delegates  had  one  of 
two  courses  to  take  :  either  they  must  submit  to 
the  orders  received  from  Paris,  or  they  must 
maintain  their  own  decree  and  prevent  the 
promulgation  of  the  other. 

The  Delegates  prohibited  the  transmission  of 
the  decree  by  either  post  or  telegraph,  and 
threatened  the  bill-stickers  with  imprisonment  if  a 
single  poster  should  appear.  The  Gironde  and 
all  the  newspapers  of  the  4th  February  which  con- 
tained the  decree  of  M.  Jules  Simon  were  seized 
by  an  order  emanating  from  the  Prefect  of  the 
Gironde,  and  couched  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  The  Prefect  of  the  Gironde  orders  M.  Leclerc, 
Commissary  of  Police,  immediately  to  seize  all  the 


THE    ELECTIONS.  37 

copies  of  the newspaper,  No.  — ,  after  lie  sliall 

have  satisfied  himself  that  the  said  newspaper  con- 
tains a  pretended  decree  relative  to  the  elections, 
signed  '  Jules  Simon,'  or  *  André  Lavertujon,' 
and  to  place  the  copies  seized  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Procureur  of  the  Republic. 

''  Bordeaux,  the  4th  February,  1871." 

The  letter,  signed  by  the  Prefect  of  the  Gironde, 
is  marked  "  Approved. 

*'  The  Director  of  General  Safety, 

"  Eano." 

On  the  same  day,  the  4th  February,  several 
persons  informed  M.  Jules  Simon  that  it  had 
been  seriously  proposed  to  have  him  arrested. 
Admiral  Fourichon  had  strongly  opposed  the 
motion,  and  he  had  been  seconded  by  M.  Glais- 
Bizoin.  The  enemies  of  the  Republic  spread 
this  report  in  hopes  of  widening  the  breach 
between  the  two  sections  of  the  Government.  M. 
Glais-Bizoin  said  to  M.  Jules  Simon,  "It  has 
been  decided  that  you  are  not  to  be  allowed  any 
means  of  addressing  the  public,  but  your  personal 
liberty  will  not  be  molested." 

The  representatives  of  the  newspapers  that  had 
been  seized  came  to  M.  Jules  Simon  to  protest 
against  the  measure  of  which  they  were  the 
victims.  They  placed  in  his  hands  a  protest 
which  ended  thus  :  "  In  virtue  of  the  unlimited 


38  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIEES. 

powers  you  have  received  from  the  Govern- 
ment of  Paris  in  order  to  secure  the  execution  of 
this  decree,  we  demand  that  you  shall  cause  the 
liberty  of  the  press  and  submission  to  the  law  to 
be  respected  in  our  persons."  The  individuals  who 
signed  this  protest  knew  perfectly  well  that  he  to 
whom  they  addressed  it  had,  at  that  moment,  no 
other  means  of  getting  justice  done  to  them  than 
by  resorting  to  force.  They  thought,  with  the 
two  other  personages  already  mentioned,  that  the 
battalions  of  the  National  Guard  belonging  to  the 
central  quarters  might  be  relied  upon  ;  and  some 
among  them  would  perhaps  have  seen  the  two 
sections  of  the  Government  come  to  fisticuffs 
without  much  regret.  M.  Jules  Simon,  on  the 
contrary,  could  not  regard  such  an  eventuality 
otherwise  than  as  the  greatest  of  misfortunes. 

He  was  convinced  that  if  a  struggle  should 
take  place  on  that  day,  with  the  uncertain  support 
of  a  few  battalions,  it  would  turn  out  ill  for  the 
cause  that  he  was  charged  to  defend.  He  hoped 
that  a  peaceful  solution  would  be  reached  in 
two  days,  and  when  that  time  should  have  come, 
if  his  hopes  were  not  realized,  there  was  a 
resource  remaining,  on  which  he  might  reckon 
securely.  He  therefore  limited  his  action  to  the 
drawing  up  of  the  following  declaration  in 
answer  to  the  protest  of  the  newspaper  editors, 


THE    ELECTIONS.  39 

forwarding  it  to  the  Delegates  and  to  the  news- 
papers concerned,  at  the  same  time  sending 
a  copy,  signed  by  himself  and  M.  Lavertujon,  to 
M.  Cellerier  : — 

"  Declakation. 

"  The  decree  unanimously  adopted  by  the 
Government  of  National  Defence  is  dated  the 
28th  January,  1871. 

"  It  was  inserted  in  the  Journal  Officiel  on  the 
29th,  and  placarded  in  Paris  on  the  same  day.  It 
was  ordered  on  the  28th  that  it  should  be  sent 
into  all  the  departments. 

"  I  do  not  think  it  advisable  to  publish  tlie 
entire  text  of  that  decree,  or  to  maintain  all  its 
dispositions,  as  I  desire  to  avoid  any  confusion 
between  the  instructions  already  received,  and 
those  which  would  result  from  the  decree  of  the 
28th  January. 

"  But  I  repeat  the  declaration  that  the  decree 
which  was  passed  on  the  28th,  published  on  the 
29th,  and  signed  by  all  the  members  present  in 
Paris,  contains  the  express  clause  that  all  French 
citizens  in  enjoyment  of  their  civil  rights  are 
eligible. 

"  I  have  been  charged,  not  only  with  the 
execution  of  this  decree,  but  especially  to  watch 
over  the  preservation  intact  of  universal  suffrage. 

*'  I  was  authorized,  if  need  were,  to  conform  in 


40  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

other  respects  to  the  views  of  the  Delegates  ;  but 
I  am  the  bearer  of  an  imperative  mandate  so  to 
act  that  all  citizcDS  who  are  in  the  CDJoyment  of 
their  civil  rights  shall  be  eligible. 

"  The  decree  is  perfectly  regular  ;  my  powers 
have  been  communicated  to  the  Delegates,  I 
maintain  the  text  of  that  decree  in  the  most 
formal  manner. 

*'  The  journals  that  have  published  it  have  acted 
in  conformity  with  right  and  law.  The  seizure 
of  those  journals  is  illegal.  Those  persons  who 
have  ordered,  and,  pursuant  to  Article  75,  those 
who  have  executed  that  seizure,  are  responsible 
for  the  obstacles  opposed  by  them  to  the  liberty 
of  the  press. 

"  Bordeaux,  5th  February,  1871. 

"  (Signed)         Jules  Simon, 

"  André  Lavertujon.'* 

Each  time  that  the  delegate  of  the  Government 
of  Paris  had  to  write  a  declaration  or  a  letter,  he 
was  careful  to  repeat  the  terms  of  the  Paris  decree, 
to  explain  its  motives,  and  to  point  out  its  legality. 
In  spite  of  the  close  watch  that  was  kept  upon  all 
his  actions,  his  mission  had  become  known  at 
Bordeaux,  and  a  certain  number  of  his  letters 
had  reached  the  public.  The  Delegates  had  from 
the  beginning  adopted  the  expedient  of  casting 
a  doubt,  which  they  did  not  entertain,  upon  the 


THE    ELECTIONS.  41 

authenticity  of  the  decree.  They  had  demanded 
not  only  the  text,  but  the  original  minute, 
signed  by  the  members  of  the  Government; 
with  which  M.  Jules  Simon  had  not  been  fur- 
nished, no  demand  of  the  kind  having  been 
anticipated,  and,  more  especially,  because  the 
decree  had  been  printed  in  the  Journal  Officiel  and 
in  the  Bulletin  des  Lois,  and  distributed  broadcast 
since  the  29th  January.  As  railway  communi- 
cation between  Bordeaux  and  the  capital  was 
restored,  it  was  supposed  at  Paris  that  the  decree 
had  been  published  in  the  usual  way.  At  the  first 
suggestion  of  this  strange  and  insulting  suspicion, 
M.  Jules  Simon,  who  was  present  at  the  Council 
of  the  Delegates,  instead  of  giving  way  to  in- 
dignation, as  he  might  fairly  have  done,  at  once 
proposed  that  they  should  telegraph  to  Paris,  so 
that  the  question  might  be  settled  by  the  answer  of 
M.  Jules  Favre.  This  was  at  first  agreed  to,  at 
least  in  appearance,  but  on  the  following  day 
M.  Jules  Simon  learned  that  the  proposed  tele- 
gram had  not  been  sent,  "  because  messages  had 
to  pass  through  the  hands  of  Count  Bismarck," 
and  that  the  question  had  been  put  by  means  of  a 
carrier-pigeon. 

The  pigeon  never  reached  Paris  ;  and,  when  at 
length,  after  the  seizure  of  the  newspapers,  public 
rumours  became  almost  threatening,  it  was  decided, 


42  TeE    GOVERNMENT    OP    M.    THIERS. 

notwitlistanding  tlie  despatch  of  the  carrier,  to 
send  M.  Cremieux  to  Paris,  with  a  commission  to 
ascertain  whether  "  the  pretended  decree  "  was,  or 
was  not,  a  reaHty.  This  decision,  with  the  words 
"  pretended  decree,"  was  posted  on  the  walls  of 
the  city,  a  fact  of  which  M.  Jules  Simon  was 
apprised  by  a  member  of  the  Government,  who 
was  indeed  indignant  at  it,  but  who  had,  never- 
theless, added  his  own  signatures  to  the  other 
three.  M.  Jules  Simon,  who  was  resolved  to 
accomiDlish  his  purpose,  but  to  take  no  personal 
questions  or  incidents  whatever  into  account, 
merely  shrugged  his  shoulders.  On  the  5th, 
M.  Crémieux  started  for  Paris,  and  at  Vierzon  he 
encountered  Messieurs  Garnier  Pages,  Emmanuel 
Arago,  and  Pelletan,  who  brought  him  back  with 
them  to  Bordeaux,  where  the  party  arrived  on  the 
6th  at  nine  o'clock  a.m.  So  soon  as  their  arrival 
was  made  known,  and  that  it  was  evident  the 
majority  of  the  Government  at  Bordeaux  were 
resolved  upon  the  suppression  of  the  ineligibility 
clause,  no  difficulty  was  made  about  the  despatch 
of  the  decree  by  telegraph  even  in  anticipation  of 
the  meeting  of  the  Council.  M.  Jules  Simon 
himself  took  it  to  the  Director-General,  who  had  it 
sent  off  immediately  in  every  quarter.  By  direc- 
tion of  M.  Jules  Simon,  General  Foltz  at  once  re- 
scinded the  order  by  which  the  troops  were  confined 


THE    ELECTIONS.  43 

to  barracks.  The  crisis  bad  ended  peacefully, 
after  an  anxious  contest  of  a  week's  duration,  and  a 
good  understanding  was  re-established  between  the 
members  of  the  Government  of  National  Defence. 

One  source  of  grave  anxiety  remained.  AVhat 
would  the  prefects  do  ? 

M.  Gambetta  had  always  been  of  opinion  that 
the  elections  ought  to  take  place,  provided  they 
should  be  conducted  on  his  system.  All  his 
prefects  (or  nearly  all),  held  with  him  on  the  second 
point,  the  exclusion  of  the  Bonapartists  ;  a  few 
only  obeyed,  in  trembling,  on  the  first,  the  convo- 
cation of  the  electors.  At  Toulouse,  M.  Duportal, 
the  prefect,  published  the  following  proclama- 
tion : — 

"  Dear  Fellow-Citizens, 

"  In  conformity  with  the  unanimous  desire  of 
true  and  tried  patriots,  the  Government  of  the 
Republic  proposed  to  postpone  the  convocation 
of  the  electors  until  it  should  have  accom- 
plished the  patriotic  mandate  of  National  Defence, 
which  it  had  courageously  accepted.  The  fortune 
of  war  and  the  adverse  destiny  of  France  have 
otherwise  disposed.  Afflicting  truth,  which  never- 
theless must  be  told  !  It  is  beneath  the  trium- 
phant roar  of  the  cannon  of  the  invader,  under  the 
bloody  heel  of  the  Prussian,  that  we  are  called  to 
vote!"  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 


44  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

On  the  31st  January,  the  municipahty  of  Saint 
Etienne  sent  a  deputation  to  M.  Gambetta,  bearing 
an  address  which  was  posted  the  same  day  on  the 
walls  of  Saint  Etienne,  and  contained  the  follow- 
ing passage  : — 

"  Take  every  energetic  measure  for  continuing 
the  war  ;  either  an  honourable  peace,  or  war  to 
complete  exhaustion. 

"  We  again  demand  from  you  absolute  powers, 
both  civil  and  military,  for  our  departmental 
authority,  so  that  every  individual  capable  of  carry- 
ing arms  may  be  enrolled,  without  any  exception 
whatever. 

"  As  for  the  Elections,  if  they  are  to  take  place, 
and  it  is  our  opinion  that  they  ought  not  to  be 
held,  we  demand  that  it  shall  be  decreed  that 
all  those  who  have  directly  served  the  Empire, 
senators,  chamberlains,  prefects,  and  others,  and 
also  all  place-seekers  shall  be  ineligible  to  the 
Constituent  Assembly. 

"  We  demand,  besides,  that  every  refractory 
individual  shall  be  deprived  of  the  vote." 

The  prefect  of  Bouches  du  Rhône,  an  active  and 
intelligent  man,  had  gone  so  far  as  to  send  in  his 
resignation  rather  than  co-operate  in  the  forma- 
tion of  a  National  Assembly.  At  the  entreaty 
of  M.  Gambetta,  he  consented  to  retain  office  and 
to  publish  the  Bordeaux  decree,  but  he  refused 


m 


THE    ELECTIONS.  45 

to  tlie  end,  even  after  the  resignation  of  M. 
Gambetta,  to  give  official  publicity  to  the  acts  of 
the  Government  of  Paris.  In  the  sitting  of  the 
11th  March,  1871,  M.  Cocherj  related  the  details 
of  this  incident.  "  M.  Gent,"  he  said,  "  being 
called  upon  to  furnish  us  with  explanations, 
replied,  that  in  fact  he  had  received,  on  the 
30th  January,  a  telegram,  despatched  from 
Bordeaux,  by  which  he  was  enjoined  to  publish 
the  decree  of  convocation  for  the  elections  of  the 
8th  February,  but  M.  Gent  was  opposed  to  the 
elections,  and  a  partisan  of  war  à  outrance.  Con- 
sequently he  telegraphed  on  the  same  day  to 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior  that  he  could  not 
accept  this  new  policy,  and  that  he  requested  a 
successor  might  be  sent  to  replace  him,  and  to 
fulfil  the  electoral  formalities. 

"Not  until  the  3rd  February  did  M.  Gent, 
yielding  to  urgent  ministerial  remonstrances, 
consent  to  allow  the  decree  of  convocation  to  be 
printed  and  placarded. 

"It  is  equally  certain  that  the  decrees  of  the 
29th  January,  the  annulment  of  the  ineligibility 
clause,  and  the  resignation  of  M.  Gambetta 
were  not  officially  published  by  the  Prefect  of 
Bouches  du  Rhône." 

M.  Gent,  M.  Duportal,  and  the  Mayor  of  Saint 
Etienne   were  not  unsupported  in  their  protest 


46  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

against  the  convocation  of  the  electors.  They 
and  the  other  malcontents,  however,  resigned 
themselves,  provided  that  the  conditions  of  the 
Bordeaux  decree  on  the  elections  were  maintained, 
i.  e.  with  the  ineligibility  clause.  The  prefect  of  a 
central  department  summoned  a  young  lawyer, 
who  had  received  a  letter  from  M.  Jules  Simon, 
and  was  distributing  copies  of  it,  before  him, 
and  threatened  him  with  imprisonment  and  a 
prosecution.  Many  similar  examples  might  be 
quoted,  and  also  proclamations  by  prefects  and 
sub-prefects,  in  which  the  Government  of  Paris 
was  violently  attacked.  M.  Paul  Bert,  Prefect  of 
the  Nord,  a  celebrated  savant,  and  a  distinguished 
man  in  every  respect,  had  taken  elaborate  pre- 
cautions to  ]3revent  the  election  of  functionaries 
and  candidates  of  the  Empire.  The  placard 
setting  forth  the  names  of  the  candidates  to  be 
excluded  is  dated  6th  February  : — 

"List  or  Candidates  declared  Inéligible. 

Brame  (Jules),  former  Minister  of  the  Empire. 
Plichon,  former  Minister  of  the  Empire. 
Des  Rotours,   Official  Candidate   in  1868  and 
1869." 

A  few  hours  afterwards  the  Lille  newspapers, 
with  the  text  of  the  decree  promulgated  in  Paris 
on  the  29th  January,  reached  the  prefect,  and  he 


THE    ELECTIONS.  47 

immediately  issued  a  proclamation,  wMcli  contains 
these  words  : — 

"  This  decree  by  the  Government,  prisoners  in 
Paris,  and  for  a  period  of  four  months  ignorant 
of  the  state  of  the  provinces,  unable  to  com- 
municate freely  with  them,  and  ignorant  of 
what  their  own  delegates  at  Bordeaux  were  doing, 
cannot,  either  in  strict  law  or  in  equity,  be 
placed  in  opposition  with  the  decree  by  the 
Delegates  at  Bordeaux,  who  were  in  full  pos- 
session of  freedom  of  thouscht  and  action. 
It  is  only  reasonable  that  the  decree  of  the 
31st  January  should  have  the  force  of  law, 
even  admitting  the  existence  of  that  of  the 
29th." 

Four  prefects  only  refused  to  apply  the  in- 
eligibility clause  :  M.  Mestreau,  Prefect  of  Cha- 
rente-Inférieure, M.  Achille  Delorme,  Prefect  of 
Calvados,  M.  Emile  Lenoël,  Prefect  of  La 
Manche,  and  M.  Ricard,  Commissary-General  for 
Deux-Sèvres  and  Vienne.  M.  Ricard  sent  the 
following  note  to  M.  Jules  Simon  : — "  I  am  told 
that  you  are  the  bearer  of  a  decree  which  con- 
firms the  eligibility  of  all  citizens.  Let  me  be  in- 
formed of  the  text  of  it,  and  I  will  answer  to  you 
for  its  being  obeyed  wherever  I  have  authority." 

At  the   sitting   of   the   9th    March,    1871,  M. 
Bethmont    read    aloud   the  telegrams  that    had 


48  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIEES. 

been   exchanged   between  M.  Mestreau   and   M. 
Gambetta. 

*'  M.  Mestreau  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior. 

"It  is  impossible  for  me  to  pubHsh  the  documents 
which  you  have  just  forwarded  to  me  ;  they 
would  produce  a  most  unfavourable  efifect  in 
Charente-Inférieure." 

"  The  Minister  to  M.  Mestreau. 

"  I  am  not  concerned  with  the  spirit  of  your 
department,  but  with  that  of  all  France.  In  my 
double  capacity  as  Minister  and  Republican,  I  give 
you  a  formal  order  under  my  personal  respon- 
sibility, to  publish  my  proclamation." 

"  M.  Mestreau  to  the  Minister. 

*'It  is  in  view  of  the  general  condition  of  France, 
as  well  as  that  of  my  own  department,  and  also 
under  the  inspiration  of  Republican  principles,  not 
authoritative,  that  I  have  refused  to  publish  your 
proclamation,  in  which  an  outrage  is  inflicted  on 
the  Government  of  National  Defence.  I  therefore 
maintain  my  former  declaration." 

On  his  resignation,  M.  Gambetta  addressed  an 
important  circular  to  the  prefects,  in  which, 
while  holding  to  his  opinion  with  regard  to  the 
Bonapartists,  he  formally  advised  that  the 
elections  should  be  proceeded  with  ;  and  this 
counsel,  emanating  from  him,  put  an  end  to  all 
hesitation. 


THE    ELECTIONS.  49 

*'  Bordeaux,  6tli  February,  1871,  3  p.m. 
*'  The  Minister  of  the  Interior  to  the  Prefects  and 
Sub-Prefects. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  grave  objections  arising 
from  the  execution  of  the  Convention  of  Ver- 
sailles, I  had  determined  to  cause  the  elections 
to  be  proceeded  with,  that  by  so  doing  I  might 
furnish  an  incontestable  proof  of  moderation 
and  sincerity,  and  also  remain  at  my  post  until 
relieved. 

"  You  are  aware.  Monsieur,  from  the  various 
documents  which  have  been  sent  to  you,  what  is 
to  be  the  nature  and  character  of  those  elections  ; 
nevertheless  I  am  convinced  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  material  diJ0Q.culties  of  every  kind  heaped 
upon  us  by  the  enemy,  a  faithful  and  resolute 
Assembly  will  be  their  outcome. 

*'  I  consider  that  our  decree  was  called  for  alike 
by  justice  as  regards  the  accomplices  of  the 
imperial  rule,  who  are  responsible  for  it,  and 
prudence  in  view  of  foreign  intrigues.  It 
has  elicited  an  insulting  protest  from  Count 
Bismarck. 

"  Since  then,  on  the  4th  February,  1871,  the 
members  of  the  Government  of 'Paris  have  sup- 
pressed our  decree  by  a  legislative  measure.  They 
have  also  sent  Messieurs  Garnier  Pages,  Eugène 
Pelletan,   and  Arago,   who  signed  the  decree    of 

VOL.  I.  E 


50  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

abrogation,  to  Bordeaux,  with  their  commission  to 
apply  it. 

"  This  is  at  once  a  disavowal  and  a  dismissal 
of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  and  of  War. 

"  A  fundamental  difference  of  opinion  from 
both  the  exterior  and  the  interior  point  of  view  is 
therefore  manifest  beyond  all  doubt.  My  con- 
science tells  me  that  it  is  my  duty  to  resign 
my  functions  as  a  minister  of  the  Government, 
with  which  I  no  longer  have  ideas  or  hopes  in 
common. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  inform  jou  that  I  have 
this  day  sent  in  my  resignation,  and  to  thank  you 
for  the  patriotic  and  steady  support  you  have 
afforded  me  in  my  endeavours  to  bring  the 
task  which  I  had  undertaken  to  a  successful  ter- 
mination. 

"  Let  me  say  to  you  that,  on  reflection,  I  am 
convinced,  seeing  how  grave  are  the  interests 
at  stake,  and  how  little  time  is  at  our  dis- 
posal, you  will  render  a  supreme  service  to  the 
Republic  by  proceeding  with  the  elections  of  the 
8th  February.  Thus  you  will  obtain  time,  to 
enable  you  to  take  such  resolutions  as  you  shall 
think  proper. 

"  Receive  the  assurance  of  my  fraternal  senti- 
ments. 

"  Léon  Gajif-etta.'* 


THE    ELECTIONS.  51 

The  Council  met  at  the  house  of  M.  Crémieux, 
immediately  after  the  arrival  of  Messieurs  Garnier 
Pages,  Arago,  and  Pelletan.  M.  Gambetta  did 
not  attend;  he  sent  in  his  resignation  by  letter, 
and  his  colleagues  met  him  next  in  the  As- 
sembly. Admiral  Fourichon  had  always  desired 
this  solution  of  the  difficulty  ;  M.  Glais-Bizoin 
felt  himself  beaten,  and  said  so,  but  received 
his  three  friends  with  no  less  cordiality  on 
that  account.  M.  Crémieux  yielded  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  case,  while  he  bitterly  regretted  the 
defeated  policy,  and  persisted  in  believing  that 
the  war  might  still  have  been  carried  on.  He 
tendered  his  resignation  on  the  following  day,  but 
the  Council  begged  him  to  withdraw  it,  as  all  the 
members  of  the  Government  were  to  resign  col- 
lectively in  five  days  from  that  time. 

Short  though  the  interval  was,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  appoint  a  successor  to  M.  Gambetta. 
M.  Jules  Simon  had  been  already  appointed  in 
that  capacity.  The  newly-arrived  Delegates 
brought  him  his  nomination,  signed  by  General 
Trochu,  Jules  Favre,  Arago,  Pelletan,  Garnier 
Pages,  and  Ernest  Picard.  M.  Glais-Bizoin  ex- 
claimed against  this  appointment,  which,  as  he 
said,  aggravated  the  defeat  of  the  Delegates. 

"  I  resign  myself  to  being  beaten,"  said  he, 
"but  not  to  being  beaten  to  this  extent."     M. 

E  2 


52  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

Crémieux  also  said  that  it  was  unwise  to  pass 
from  M.  Gambetta  to  tliat  identical  member 
of  tlie  Government  who  represented  the  most 
moderate  policy  ;  and  such  was  likewise  M.  Jules 
Simon's  own  opinion.  He  felt  convinced  that 
the  Council,  composed  as  it  was  now,  would,  after 
this  sitting,  be  unanimous  in  its  resolutions. 
The  whole  question  was  merely  the  substitution 
of  one  name  for  another.  He  thought  the  name 
of  M.  Arago  would  have  more  authority  than  his 
own  with  the  prefects  who  had  been  appointed 
by  M.  Gambetta.  They  had  almost  all  gone 
against  him  during  the  week  of  struggle  that  had 
just  expired;  it  would  be  easier  for  them  to 
submit  to  the  new  orders  they  were  about  to 
receive,  if  those  orders  were  not  signed  by  him. 
These  reasons  seemed  conclusive.  The  consent  of 
M.  Emmanuel  Arago  was  obtained,  but  not 
without  difficulty.  A  circular  was  immediately 
drawn  up,  and  addressed  by  telegraph  to  all 
the  prefects  and  sub-prefects  of  the  uninvaded 
departments. 

At  Bordeaux  everything  went  off  smoothly.  In 
the  evening  M.  Arago  presented  himself  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Municipal  Council  and  was  warmly 
received.  The  popularity  and  good  management 
of  M.  Fourcaud  aided  materially  in  preventing  any 
disturbance.     None  took  place  indeed  in  any  part 


THE   ELECTIONS.  53 

of  France.  The  elections  were  lield  on  tlie  8tli, 
conformably  with  the  Paris  decree,  and  on  Sunday, 
the  12th  February,  the  Assembly  met,  to  declare 
itself  constituted. 


54  THE   GOVEENMENT   OF   M,   THIEES. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   ASSEMBLY   AT   BOEDEAUX. 

It  would  be  difficult  for  any  one  who  had  not  seen 
the  city  of  Bordeaux  when  it  was  the  capital  of 
France,  to  form  an  idea  of  the  busy  and  bustling 
crowd  which  at  that  time  filled  the  hotels  and 
thronged  the  streets.  The  handsome,  refined, 
calm,  and  kindly  city  had  become  for  the  nonce 
a  political  capital,  a  "  Bourse  "  on  a  gigantic 
scale,  and  the  head-quarters  of  a  large  military 
force.  The  Place  des  Quinconces  was  occupied 
by  cannon  ;  the  Prefecture  was  the  residence 
of  M.  Gambetta,  but  the  Government,  the  Ministry 
of  the  Interior,  the  Ministry  of  War,  the  Police 
and  Telegraph  Administrations,  and  the  Pre- 
fecture of  the  Gironde  were  also  lodged  there. 
In  the  vast  rooms  set  apart  for  the  use  of  the 
General  Council,  clerks,  who  had  been  employed 
under  the  Empire,  worked  beneath  the  eyes  of 
their  directors  like  schoolboys  with  the  master's 


THE    ASSEMBLY   AT   BORDEAUX.  55 

cane  in  view  ;  tlie  prefect's  cabinet,  the  former 
reception-rooms,  and  even  the  antechambers 
were  crowded  by  persons  of  another  class,  equally 
busy  and  bustling,  who  might  have  been  seen 
five  months  before  in  the  offices  of  the  demo- 
cratic newspapers.  The  all-powerful  minister 
enjoyed  no  privacy.  "When  he  needed  a  little 
quietness,  while  writing  an  order  or  a  circular, 
he  took  refuge  behind  a  screen.  He  gave 
audiences  to  the  crowd  on  the  balcony,  to 
deputations  at  the  stairhead,  and  to  individuals 
behind  the  door.  The  grand  staircase  was 
thronged  hke  that  of  a  railway-station  when 
the  trains  are  starting^.  Ministers  and  Generals 
made  their  way  through  the  press  with  their 
elbows  ;  a  space  would  be  cleared  only  for  the 
master  and  two  or  three  of  his  familiars.  This 
buzzing  and  swarming  crowd  was  enlivened  by 
a  great  variety  of  costumes.  M.  Gambetta  had 
shown  incomparable  activity  in  the  creation  of 
armies  ; — all  the  anger  and  ill-will  of  his  enemies 
can  never  deprive  him  of  credit  on  that  score 
• — he   had    also    created    officers   in    o-reat    Dro- 

a  X 

fusion,  and  those  officers  had  created  uniforms. 
Civil  functionaries  indulged  in  them  to  their 
hearts'  content  ;  a  director  of  telegraphs  wore 
a  plumed  hat,  and  gold  lace  like  a  general. 
The    Bordeaux   people  who  remained   quietly  at 


56  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

tlieir  business  hardly  recognized  their  own  city  ; 
their  streets,  their  Prefecture,  their  theatres, 
their  counting-houses,  indeed  their  own  houses. 
In  the  course  of  three  months  Bordeaux  was 
taken  by  assault  two  or  three  times  by  different 
armies  ;  by  civil  functionaries,  by  speculators  in  all 
kinds  of  business,  by  officials,  and  finally,  after  the 
retirement  of  M.  Gambetta,  by  deputies. 

Only  eight  days  were  allowed  for  the  transaction 
of  the  onerous  business  of  the  elections,  which,  in 
ordinary  times,  sets  so  many  persons  in  motion  ; 
and  those  eight  days  were  fertile  in  unexpected 
occurrences  in  the  uninvaded  departments. 
Operations  had  been  commenced  on  the  2nd  or 
3rd  February,  in  obedience  to  the  Bordeaux 
decree  ;  then,  almost  on  the  eve  of  the  voting  day, 
came  the  decrees  of  M.  Jules  Simon  and  the 
Government  of  Paris.  In  several  departments 
the  prefects  had  been  obliged  to  alter  their  in- 
structions and  to  contradict  their  proclamations. 
A  few  of  them  retired.  The  new  prefect  of  Lille, 
M.  Hendlé,  arrived  on  the  voting  day  itself.  No 
less  pressing,  although  of  a  different  kind,  were 
the  difiBculties  under  which  the  departments  in- 
vaded by  the  Prussians  laboured.  As  there  were 
no  longer  any  prefects  in  those  departments,  a 
circular  issued  by  M.  Herold,  Minister  of  the 
Interior,  transferred  the  most  essential  portion  of 


THE    ASSEMBLY   AT   BOEDEAUX.  57 

their  functions  to  tlie  mayors  of  the  various  town- 
ships. The  enemy,  who  desired  that  the  Assembly 
should  be  summoned,  offered  no  obstacle  to 
the  proceedings.  Liberty  to  meet,  to  advertise, 
to  correspond  and  to  vote  was  unchecked,  but 
the  state  of  siege  was,  in  itself,  a  terrible  impedi- 
ment. Almost  all  the  Mairies  were  turned  into 
barracks,  the  electoral  lists  were  lost  or  destroyed, 
the  railroads  were  either  blocked  up  or  torn  up, 
many  of  the  most  active  and  important  citizens 
were  serving  with  the  army.  Nevertheless,  the 
elections  were  held  all  over  France  at  the  appointed 
hour.  They  were  conducted  in  freedom  and  with 
regularity.  M.  Thiers  bore  witness  to  this  in 
the  sitting  of  the  10th  March,  1871.  "  Never," 
said  he,  "  no  never,  has  a  country  been  more 
sincerely  interrogated,  and  never  has  it  answered 
more  sincerely  than  on  the  recent  occasion. 

"  The  country  was  in  great  part  occupied, 
but  where  that  was  the  case,  the  foreigners  did 
not  meddle  with  your  elections.  In  the  other 
portions  of  France  certain  prefects  would  have 
liked  to  meddle  with  them,  but  they  had  not 
time. 

*'  Thus,  because  the  foreigner  regarded  them 
with  indifference,  and  the  previous  administration 
had  not  time  to  interfere,  the  elections  were  not  in 
any  way  impeded." 


68  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

It  has  since  been  repeatedly  alleged  that  the 
Government  of  National  Defence  brought  pressure 
to  bear  on  the  electors,  but  this  accusation  is  not 
only  false,  it  is  absurd.  The  Assembly,  which 
was  not  to  be  suspected  of  a  leaning  towards 
the  Government,  granted  only  one  inquiry, — 
in  the  case  of  the  department  of  Vaucluse, — 
and  annulled,  in  all,  only  five  returns,  those 
respectively  of  M.  Cyprien  Chaix  in  the 
Hautes  Alpes  ;  M.  Marc-Dufraisse  in  the  Alpes- 
Maritimes  ;  M.  Mestreau  in  Charente-Inférieure  ; 
M.  Lamorte  in  Drome,  and  M.  Girot-Ponzol  in 
Puy-de-Dôme.  These  elections  were  annulled 
solely  in  virtue  of  the  principle  of  the  ineligibility 
of  prefects  in  the  departments  under  their  own 
administration.  It  is  therefore  quite  true  that 
the  elections  throughout  all  France  were  declared 
valid,  with  the  exception  of  those  of  one  depart- 
ment only. 

The  Delegates  had  authorized  the  candidateship 
of  prefects  in  their  own  departments  (although 
it  was  a  departure  from  their  principles)  for 
the  reason  that  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
were  completedy  exceptional,  and  that  it  would 
have  been  unjust  to  disqualify  men  who  had 
accepted  office,  not  as  a  career,  but  as  an  oppor- 
tunity of  rendering  disinterested  service  to  the 
country. 


THE   ASSEMBLY   AT   BORDEAUX.  59 

M.  Jules  Simon,  whose  object  it  was  not  to 
dishearten  the  prefects,  did  not  wish  to  provoke 
to  disobedience  those  who  might  have  offered 
themselves  as  candidates  several  days  before  the 
existence  of  his  decree  had  come  to  their  know- 
ledge. As  it  happened,  the  greater  number  of 
the  prefects  abstained  from  offering  themselves  as 
candidates.  Only  eleven  prefects  and  two  sub- 
prefects  were  returned.  Several  of  those  who 
were  elected  had  sent  in  their  resignation  in 
time.  M.  Marc-Dufraisse,  whose  seat  was  in- 
validated, was  elected  simultaneously  in  the 
department  of  the  Seine.  The  other  four  pre- 
sented themselves  anew,  and  were  re-elected. 

Not  a  single  case  of  corrupt  practices  was  even 
alleged,  and  some  instances  of  intimidation  which 
it  was  attempted  to  exaggerate  were  not  proven  ; 
the  Assembly  took  no  heed  of  them.  Several 
prefects  had  advised  the  electors  to  vote  for  war 
à  outrance  ;  but  the  change  which  had  taken  place 
in  the  administration  two  days  previously  had 
nullified  their  influence,  which  was  not,  indeed, 
important  beforehand,  for  every  one  knew  that  they 
were  about  to  vacate  their  posts.  Their  promises 
were  not  to  be  relied  upon,  nor  were  their  threats 
to  be  feared.  At  the  date  of  the  elections  the 
Government  and  their  agents  of  every  degree, 
including  the  mayors,  possessed  moral  authority 


60  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

only  over  tliose  who  were  of  their  way  of  thinking  ; 
whosoever  was  not  entirely  with  them  was 
against  them.  The  Government  of  Paris  was 
reproached  with  the  capitulation,  the  Government 
of  Bordeaux  with  a  Dictatorship.  In  reality  the 
only  collective  influence  was  that  of  the  clergy, 
who  had  remained  at  their  posts,  with  their 
organization  intact,  while  war  and  revolution 
had  profoundly  troubled  and  terribly  thinned  the 
ranks  of  lay  society.  From  that  time  forth  the 
clergy  openly  and  ardently  joined  in  the  strife  of 
parties 

On  the  day  after  the  elections  the  deputies 
began  to  arrive  at  Bordeaux.  Several  of  them 
came  direct  from  the  army,  or  from  the  ambulances, 
and  had  not  allowed  themselves  a  glimpse  of 
their  homes.  A  few  were  still  wearing  their  regi- 
mental uniforms.  The  Grand  Theatre  had  been 
arranged  as  a  temporary  Assembly  House;  a 
purpose  which  the  large  and  commodious  building 
served  admirably,  with  but  one  drawback.  It  was 
not  lighted  from  the  outside,  and  therefore  gas 
had  to  be  used  on  all  occasions.  The  Lecture- 
Room  was  assigned  for  the  use  of  the  public,  the 
actors'  dressing-rooms  and  the  property-rooms 
were  arranged  as  best  they  might  be  for  the  use 
of  the  officials. 

The  Assembly  met  at  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 


THE   ASSEMBLY    AT    EOliDEAUX.  61 

noon  of  the  12tli  February,  in  the  green-room. 
At  first  it  was  proposed  only  to  get  intelhgence, 
but  Count  Benoist  d'Azy,  who  was  summoned  to 
preside  at  the  sitting  as  the  senior  member  pre- 
sent, moved  that  considering  the  gravity  of  the 
circumstances,  the  Assembly  should  at  once 
declare  itself  constituted.  This  proposal  was 
unanimously  adopted.  Provisional  officers  were 
also  elected.  M.  Benoist  d'Azy  was  to  con- 
tinue to  act  as  President.  M.  Duchâtel,  M.  de 
Castellane,  M.  Paul  de  Remusat,  and  M.  L'Ebraly 
were  appointed  Secretaries.  The  Assembly  ad- 
journed until  the  following  day  for  the  verification 
of  powers.  A  considerable  number  of  deputies 
were  already  present.  When  on  the  16tli  the 
Assembly  proceeded  to  elect  the  permanent 
officials,  there  were  no  less  than  633  voters. 

Neither  the  Paris  Government  nor  the  Bordeaux 
Delegates  had  thought  of  defining  the  powers  of 
the  Assembly,  or  of  fixing  a  term  to  its  mandate. 
It  was  evident  that  the  Assembly  as  the  out- 
come of  universal  suffrage  possessed  absolute 
and  sovereign  power,  and  that  from  the  moment 
of  its  meeting  its  authority  was  sole  and  supreme 
in  France.  It  was  generally  believed  that  the 
Assembly  had  been  summoned  to  decide  upon 
peace  or  war  ;  that  its  mission  would  terminate 
with  the  vote  which  should  finally  dispose  of  this 


62  THE    GUVERNMExN'T    OF    M.    THIERS. 

formidable  question,  and  that  afterwards  it  would 
liave  nothing  to  do  except  to  pass  an  electoral 
law,  and  summon  its  successors.  Those  who  are 
familiar  with  history  know  that  an  Assembly 
always  takes  all  the  powers  it  can  get,  and  always 
lasts  as  long  as  it  can.  Doubtless,  however, 
the  deputies  would  have  been  astonished  if  they 
had  been  told  that  they  should  sit  for  four  years, 
and  should  make  a  Constitution. 

The  list  of  the  newly-elected  deputies,  upon 
whom  the  fate  of  the  country  depended,  v/as 
studied  with  considerable  anxiety  at  this  time. 
The  indications  afforded  by  it  were  by  no  means 
clear.  It  included  several  new  names,  and  it  was 
rightly  believed  that  there  would  be  numerous  con- 
versions among  the  former  deputies.  Everything 
was  conjectural,  and  the  most  skilful  statisticians 
dared  not  claim  complete  accuracy. 

One  important,  sahent,  and  reassuring  fact  was 
that  only  a  few  Bonapartists  had  been  returned. 
They  numbered  thirty  in  all,  and  the  only  well- 
known  men  in  the  little  group  were  M.  Conti, 
M.  Gavini,  M.  Gallioni,  M.  Daru,  and  M.  Brame. 
Two-thirds  of  this  small  party,  who  afterwards 
formed  the  nucleus  of  the  group  known  as  that  of 
"  The  Appeal  to  the  People,"  would  have  indig- 
nantly repudiated  tlie  appellation  of  "  Bonapar- 
tists."    The  apprehensions  of  M.  Gambetta  that 


THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  BORDEAUX.         63 

a  Chamber  composed  of  former  official  candidates 
might  be  returned  were  very  wide  of  the  mark. 
France  had  remembered  the  2nd  of  December, 
the  mixed  commissions,  the  transportations,  the 
law  of  Public  Safety,  Mexico,  and  Sedan.  The 
head  of  the  Bonapartist  party,  M.  Rouher,  was 
then  abroad.  He  did  not  offer  himself  as  a  can- 
didate until  the  elections  of  the  2nd  July,  when 
he  was  beaten  in  Charente-Inférieure  and  the 
Gironde.  M.  Se  vérin  Abbatucci  was  obliged  to 
resign  in  order  to  secure  M.  Rouher's  seat  for 
the  department  of  Corsica,  which  was  then 
regarded  as  a  Bonapartist  pocket-borough.  The 
party  could  not  pretend  that  it  was  a  victim 
to  the  Bordeaux  decree,  for  it  was  not  more 
fortunate  on  the  2ud  July  than  on  the  8th 
February. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  number  of  republicans 
amounted  to  only  250  ;  and  this  was  a  disappoint- 
ment. It  was,  however,  to  be  expected  that  all 
the  Monarchical  parties  would  league  themselves 
together  against  the  Republic  ;  and  that  although 
the  Republic  would  win  in  the  end,  it  must  be 
some  time  before  it  could  be  declared  the  definitive 
Government  of  France,  and  still  longer  before  it 
could  be  secured  against  aggressive  attempts  by  the 
beaten  parties.  If  the  elections  could  have  been 
hold   in   September  or  October  1870,  an  almost 


64  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

entirely  Republican  Assembly  would  have  been 
returned. 

The  resurrection  of  the  Legitimist  party 
was  a  novel  and  unexpected  event,  chiefly  ex- 
plicable by  the  intervention  of  the  clergy.  This 
was  a  party  of  which  France  knew  nothing,  which 
was  believed  to  be  extinct.  It  had,  for  a  long  time, 
been  composed  of  leaders  without  soldiers;  but 
now  all  the  leaders  were  elected.  It  became  evi- 
dent, after  a  few  sittings,  that  the  representa- 
tives of  the  old  régime  were  ignorant  of  public 
affairs,  and  that  they  did  not  number  among  them 
any  of  those  superior  men  who  lend  brilliancy  to 
their  party,  who  force  other  parties  to  fear  it,  and 
who  occasionally  succeed,  by  dint  either  of  political 
ability  or  oratorical  talent,  in  displacing  a  majority. 

It  was  otherwise  with  the  Right  Centre,  a 
group  which  outnumbered  that  of  the  Repub- 
licans, and  in  which  were  included  M.  Thiers,  M. 
Dufaure,  M.  Léonce  de  Lavergne,  M.  Casimir  Per- 
rier,  M.  Laboulaye,  and  a  number  of  learned  and 
eloquent  men,  accustomed  to  public  business,  and 
to  the  handling  of  assemblies,  governing  men  who 
had  been  thrown  into  opposition  by  the  Empire, 
and  who,  if  they  should  prove  sufficiently  high- 
minded  to  keep  clear  of  former  prejudices  and  the 
interests  of  a  clique,  could  not  fail  to  exercise  a 
preponderating  influence  in  the  Assembly. 


THE   ASSEMBLY    AT   BORDEAUX.  65 

Thus,  tlie  Right  Centre  was  the  most  important 
group  ;  next  in  order  came  the  Eepubhcans,  with 
some  first-rate  speakers,  M.  Jules  Favre,  M.  Gam- 
betta,  M.  Pelletan  and  M.  Picard  ;  after  them  the 
Legitimists  ;  and  lastly,  the  Bonapartists,  in  an 
insignificant  minority.  If  to  all  these  be  added 
thirty  individuals  whose  opinions  nobody  knew 
anything  about,  tentative,  expectant  persons, 
who  certainly  did  not  themselves  know  how 
they  ought  to  be  classified,  an  almost  exact 
estimate  may  be  formed  of  the  state  of  parties 
at  the  opening  of  the  Assembly. 

No  group  had  the  majority.  The  Right 
Centre  and  the  Republicans  came  first,  with  un- 
equal forces  ;  and  this  result  was  discouraging 
to  the  Bonapartists,  and  disheartening  to  the 
Republicans.  The  only  party  who  were  justified 
in  congratulating  themselves,  and  in  thinking 
that  France  was  coming  back  to  them,  were 
the  adherents  of  Constitutional  Monarchy.  They 
were  accustomed  to  look  upon  Republicans  as 
devoid  of  political  ability,  and  they  calculated 
that  the  check  which  the  Republican  party  had 
received  through  them  in  February,  1871,  would 
be  still  more  complete  when  the  supplementary 
elections  should  have  taken  place.  The  Repub-^ 
licans  could  not  fail  to  make  mistakes,  and  they 
themselves  would  not  fail  to  profit  by  those  errors. 

VOL.  T.  '  F 


66  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

Then,  too,  every  man  of  the  Legitimist  party  wlio 
was  not  too  deeply  pledged,  every  man  who  was 
capable  of  taking  a  correct  view  of  the  state  of 
modern  society,  would  join  the  Constitutional 
Monarchists.  Was  it  not  essential,  above  all, 
to  escape  the  Eepublic?  A  second  time  in  tlie 
course  of  the  century,  the  Constitutionalists  would 
be  a  necessary  expedient.  In  the  first  place  they 
were  certain  to  place  M.  Thiers  at  the  head  of 
the  Government.  And  then,  as  if  to  secure  the 
triumph  of  the  Eight  Centre,  no  sooner  had  the 
Eepublicans  met  together  than  they  began  to 
quarrel  among  themselves. 

M.  Gambetta  and  the  other  leaders  of  the 
Republican  party  had  seen  the  double  danger 
that  awaited  the  Eepublic  from  the  Orleanists 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  Bonapartists  on  the 
other.  Against  the  latter  they  had  the  resource 
of  the  decree  of  ineligibility,  which  they  held 
to  be  justified  as  a  sort  of  lex  talionis,  in 
retaliation  for  the  official  candidateships  of  the 
Empire;  but  they  had  no  such  weapon  to  use 
against  Constitutional  Monarchy.  They  believed 
rightly  that  all  persons  of  superior  intelligence 
would  end  by  regarding  the  Eepublic  as  the 
only  Government  possible  and  the  best  of 
Governments,  and  that  the  great  body  of  the 
nation,   freed  from    the   delusion    of    Cœsarism, 


THE    ASSEMBLY   AT   EOEDEAUX.  67 

could  not  but  embrace  the  E/cpublican  cause. 
Progress,  however,  in  human  societies,  does 
not  tread  with  even  and  measured  pace;  it 
springs  forward,  then  it  recoils;  it  is  subject 
to  interruptions,  until,  having  triumphed  over 
final  obstacles,  it  at  length  acquires  irresistible 
force.  If  the  members  of  the  Eight  Centre  had 
obeyed  one  leader,  if  they  had  practised  the 
only  kind  of  disinterestedness  which  a  party 
can  exhibit,  that  is  to  say  patience  ;  if,  above  all, 
they  had  remained  faithful  to  that  liberal  policy 
which  they  had  so  loudly  demanded  under  the 
Empire,  instead  of  making  common  cause  with 
the  reaction  and  with  clericalism,  France  might 
have  recommenced,  under  less  enduring  conditions, 
the  experiment  of  1830.  Their  internal  divisions 
were  a  happy  chance  for  the  Republic.  They  had 
nothing  in  common  except  their  attachment  to 
the  representative  system  and  their  dislike  of 
running  risks.  The  dissensions  in  the  party  were 
manifest  from  the  first.  A  very  few  among 
them  denied  all  salvation  outside  of  an  Orleanist 
restoration,  and  they  sacrificed  everything  to 
that  conviction.  The  entire  political  faith 
of  others  was  summed  up  in  instinctive  aversion 
to  democracy,  and  fear  of  being  deprived  of 
the  political  and  social  advantages  they  en- 
joyed.    They  loved  liberty  in  theory,  they  would 

F  2 


Q8  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

even  have  consented  to  administer  it  to  fhe 
country,  provided  tliey  liad  been  permitted  to 
measure  the  dose.  Their  conditional  and  tempe- 
rate liberalism  did  not  survive  the  spectacle 
of  the  commune,  and  when  three  years  later 
it  became  evident  that  an  Orleanist  restora- 
tion was  impossible,  they  were  forced  to  choose 
between  two  evils,  the  Empire  and  the  Repub- 
lic. They  made  that  selection  which  appeared 
to  them  to  be  the  safer,  if  not  the  more 
honourable,  and  one  by  one  they  were  seen  to 
enter  the  Assembly,  and  take  their  places  in 
the  ranks  of  the  party  that  hid  itself  under 
the  name  of  "  The  Party  of  Appeal  to  the 
People." 

Between  the  obstinate  Orleanists  and  the 
Orleanists  turned  Bonapartists,  there  existed  in 
the  Eight  Centre  a  group  consisting  of  one 
hundred  clear-headed  men,  who  were  equally 
incapable  of  abandoning  the  principles  upon  which 
all  society  rests,  and  of  renouncing  liberty.  They 
would  have  preferred  Constitutional  Monarchy  to 
any  other  form  of  government  ;  if  they  had  found 
it  established,  or  if  they  could  have  restored  it  by  a 
vote  without  violent  measures.  But  they  perceived 
at  once  that  neither  the  Legitimists  nor  the  Bona- 
partists would  accede  to  the  constitutional  form  ; 
it  would  not   have  a   majority  either   in   Parlia- 


THE  ASSEMBLY    AT    BORDEAUX.  69 

ment  nor  among  tlie  people,  while  it  was  in  itself, 
and  from  the  temperament  of  its  advocates, 
happily  unable  to  resort  to  force.  They  were  well 
aware  that  the  reappearance  of  the  Legitimist 
party  upon  the  political  stage  was  a  brief  incident 
which  would  have  no  result  ;  and  the  only  possible 
monarchy  was  that  which  they  would  not  accept 
at  any  price,  that  which  openly  and  unscrupulously 
appealed  to  material  interests  and  to  force. 
The  Republic  inspired  them  with  distrust,  which, 
in  some  cases,  at  that  time,  certainly  reached 
the  height  of  aversion.  But,  being  persuaded 
that  they  would  have  to  choose  between  the 
Republic  and  the  Empire,  and  that  the  Empire 
would  never  reconcile  itself  with  the  principles  of 
right,  with  justice,  or  with  liberty,  they  did  not 
despair  of  being  able  to  construct  a  hberal  and 
conservative  Republic.  In  a  word,  they  rejected 
Legitimacy  as  chimerical,  and  dictatorship,  whether 
Republican  or  Csesarian,  as  odious  ;  they  preferred 
a  liberal  Monarchy  to  a  moderate  Republic,  but 
they  did  not  hold  that  it  would  be  right  to  bring 
about  a  revolution  simply  that  they  might  make 
the  presidency  of  the  Republic  hereditary. 

Not  only  was  M.  Thiers  the  head  of  this  party, 
he  was  the  party  itself,  for  it  was  by  following 
him,  by  comprehending  his  ideas,  that  the  others 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  existing  Govern- 


70  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

ment  must  be  provisionally  maintained.  Mean- 
time, the  lists  were  to  be  kept  open,  so  that  the 
power  of  making  a  free  choice  between  the  two 
forms  of  constitutional  Government  should  be 
reserved  to  the  country,  which  was  to  withhold  its 
judgment  until  after  the  reconstruction  of  the 
nation  ;  that  is  to  say,  until  France  should  once 
more  possess  an  army,  an  administration,  and 
finances. 

The  sitting  of  Monday,  the  13th  February,  was 
in  reality  the  first  sitting  of  the  Assembly.  It 
commenced  at  two  o'clock,  in  the  theatre, 
M.  Benoist  d'Azy  presiding.  The  Deputies  had  to 
struggle  to  their  places  through  an  enormous  crowd, 
who  wanted  to  see  the  most  important  and  popular 
among  them.  Garibaldi,  who  wore  his  uniform, 
and  Victor  Hugo,  were  the  most  closely  sur- 
rounded and  the  most  loudly  applauded.  The 
whole  crowd  was  ardently  Eepublican,  and  the 
Deputies  of  the  Eight  complained  of  the  be- 
wildering shouts  of  Vive  la  Bêjmbliqne,  which 
followed  them  as  they  entered  or  issued  from  the 
theatre. 

M.  Jules  Favre  spoke  first  ;  the  purport  of  his 
address  was  to  place  the  powers  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  National  Defence  in  the  hands  of  the 
representatives  of  the  country. 

"  Ever  since  the  members  of  the  Government  of 


THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  CORDEAUX.         71 

National  Defence  have  been  cliarged  with  the  task 
which  they  accepted,"  said  M.  Jules  Favre,  "they 
have  had  no  greater  solicitude  or  desire  than 
for  the  arrival  of  the  day  when  they  should  find 
themselves  in  tlie  presence  of  the  representatives 
of  the  people.     {Hear  !  hear  !) 

*'  They  are  in  that  presence  now,  and  under 
most  cruel  and  grievous  circumstances;  but, 
thanks  to  your  patriotism,  gentlemen,  thanks  to 
that  unity  among  you,  to  which  I  feel  convinced 
that  we  shall  not  appeal  in  vain  {Bravo  /),  and 
which,  if  need  were,  would  be  imposed  upon  us 
by  our  misfortunes,  by  good  sense,  and  by 
solicitude  for  the  interests  of  our  dear  country 
(Cheers),  we  shall  yet  heal  her  wounds  and  recon- 
struct her  destiny.     (Loud  cheers.) 

"  To  you,  gentlemen,  belongs  this  task.  We 
are  no  longer  of  any  account,  except  that  we  are 
responsible  to  you  for  all  our  acts,  and  ready  to 
answer  for  them;  knowing  that  they  will  be 
investigated  with  loyalty  ;  that  loyalty  which  will 
inspire  every  deliberation  of  yours,  as  you  know 
that  it  will  be  our  guide  in  the  explanations  to 
be  laid  before  you."     {Unanimous  appla.use.) 

M.  Jules  Favre  added  a  few  words  respect- 
ing the  negotiation  which  he  had  opened,  and 
which  obliged  him  to  return  on  that  same  day  to 
Paris.     "  My   first   duty,"    he  said,    "  will  be  to 


72  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

carry  back  to  those  with  whom  we  are  treat- 
ing, the  assurance  that  France  is  ready,  hap- 
pen what  may,  to  do  her  duty  bravely.  {Loud 
applause.) 

"  The  Assembly  will  decide  with  the  perfect 
liberty  that  is  the  right  of  the  representatives 
of  the  country,  careful  for  nothing  save  the  salva- 
tion of  France,  and  her  honour."  (Renewed 
applause.) 

The  President  then  read  aloud  the  collective 
and  several  letters  of  resignation  of  the  members 
of  the  Government  ;  and  afterwards  made  known 
to  the  Assembly  the  following  document, — 

"  Citizen  President  of  the  National  Assembly, 

"As  a  last  duty  rendered  to  the  cause  of 
the  French  Hepublic,  I  have  come  hither  to 
tender  it  my  vote,  which  I  place  in  your 
hands. 

"  I  renounce  the  mandate,  by  which  1  have  been 
honoured  by  various  departments. 

"  I  salute  you, 

"G.  Garibaldi." 

The  drawing  for  the  bureaus  then  took  place, 
and  the  Assembly  adjourned  in  order  that  the 
examination  of  powers  might  be  proceeded  with 
immediately. 

The  public  were  already  leaving  the  galleries, 


THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  BORDEAUX.         73 

and  the  Deputies  were  quitting  the  Chamber,  when 
General  Garibaldi  rose,  and  asked  permission  to 
speak. 

He  was  met  with  cries  from  all  sides  of  "It  is 
too  late!  The  sitting  is  adjourned."  A  member 
added,  "  A  deputy  who  has  resigned  has  no  longer 
any  right  to  speak  in  an  Assembly." 

General  Garibaldi  ought  indeed  to  have  spoken 
during  the  sitting,  and  before  he  sent  in  his  re- 
signation; but  the  members  of  the  Right  were 
glad  of  an  opportunity  of  opposing  him  in  this 
sense,  and  of  refusing  him  a  hearing.  Some  days 
later,  very  severe  things  were  said  of  him  on 
that  side  of  the  Chamber.  The  members  of  the 
Left,  on  the  contrary,  came  hurrying  in  again 
when  the  rumour  spread  that  Garibaldi  wished  to 
speak.  The  Republicans  were  not  only  animated 
by  sentiments  of  respect  and  admiration  for 
the  General,  but  they  thought  the  sitting  might 
have  been  resumed  for  a  few  minutes,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  courtesy  due  to  a  foreigner, 
and  the  gratitude  due  to  a  military  leader  who 
had  fought  for  us.  Unfortunately  they  were 
in  the  minority.  M.  Benoist  d'Azy  resumed  his 
presidential  chair,  but  without  removing  his  hat, 
and  said, — 

"  I  have  declared  the  sitting  suspended,  and  I 
can  only  request  my  colleagues  to  retire  to  their 


74  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIEES. 

bureaus.  I  order  the  galleries  to  be  immediately 
cleared." 

The  members  dispersed  amid  considerable  com- 
motion. The  representatives,  who  repaired  to 
their  bureaus,  could  hear  the  acclamations  long 
and  loud  with  which  Garibaldi  was  greeted  by  the 
vast  multitude  outside.  He  set  out  for  Italy  on 
the  same  evening. 

The  Assembly  got  on  rapidly  with  the  examina- 
tion of  powers.  On  the  IGth  February  the 
final  nominations  took  place.  The  president 
was  appointed  unanimously,  and  that  president 
was  a  Republican.  M.  Grévy  was,  however,  so 
plainly  indicated  by  the  circumstances,  that  his 
election  did  not  furnish  a  true  criterion  of  the 
respective  strength  of  parties.  Neither  the  Legi- 
timists nor  the  Right  Centre  could  possibly  have 
flattered  themselves  that  a  candidate  of  theirs 
would  be  elected  ;  the  support  of  the  Republican 
party  was  indispensable  to  the  success  of  any  one 
who  might  be  proposed.  On  the  4th  September, 
M.  Grévy  had  not  approved  of  the  Govern- 
ment which  was  proclaimed  at  the  Hôtel  de 
Ville,  and  he  had  refused  to  accept  office  under 
it  as  Minister  of  Justice.  He  had  even  under- 
taken to  convey  the  proposals  of  the  Corps  Légis- 
latif to  the  Government  on  the  same  evening. 
He  was    respected   by  the    Republicans  for   his 


THE    ASSEMBLY   AT   BOEDEAUX.  75 

talents,  his  character,  and  the  sincerity  of 
his  convictions,  and  he  had  won  favour  with 
the  Monarchists  by  steadily  holding  himself 
aloof  from  the  revolution  from  the  beginning. 
M.  Thiers,  who  was  all-powerful  in  the  As- 
sembly, and  especially  over  the  Right  Centre, 
was  the  first  to  pronounce  the  name  of  M.  Grevy, 
and  not  a  single  objection  was  raised.  The 
state  of  parties  was  revealed  in  the  subsequent 
nominations. 

Four  vice-presidents  were  required.  The  per- 
sons appointed  were  M.  Martel,  M.  Yitet,  M.  Léon 
de  Maleville,  all  belonging  to  the  Right  Centre, 
and  M.  Benoist  d'Azy,  a  Legitimist.  M.  Léon  de 
Maleville,  the  last  elected,  had  288  votes.  The 
next  candidate,  M.  de  Vogué,  a  Legitimist,  had 
214  votes.  The  Right  Centre  had  two  questors, 
who  passed  with  458  and  430  votes  ;  the  Legiti- 
mists succeeded  with  great  difficulty  in  getting 
M.  Princeteau  passed.  He  had  only  212  votes 
at  the  first  ballot  ;  but  the  Republican  candidate 
had  only  147,  and  this  number  fell  to  55  at  the 
final  ballot. 

The  six  secretaries  were  Messieurs  Bethmont, 
Paul  de  Rémusat,  de  Barante,  Johnston,  de 
Castellane,  and  de  Meaux.  Of  these,  only  M.  Beth- 
mont was  a  Republican;  so  that  there  were  but 
two  Republicans  in  a  bureau  composed  of  four- 


76  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

teen  members.  The  strength,  of  the  Republican 
party  is  exactly  represented  by  the  number  of 
votes  given  to  M.  Magnin  for  the  post  of  questor, 
and  to  M.  Charles  Rolland  for  that  of  secre- 
tary. M.  Magnin  had  147  votes,  M.  Rolland, 
145.  The  Republicans  voted  without  any  allies. 
The  most  liberal  and  intelligent  members  of  the 
Right  Centre,  those  who,  a  few  months  later,  were 
to  rally  round  the  Republic,  and  form  the  Left 
Centre  of  the  Assembly,  were  still  hesitating. 
They  voted  for  the  Monarchist  candidates,  who 
entered  the  bureau  with  majorities  of  300  and  400 
votes. 

The  most  urgent  duty  of  the  Assembly  was  to 
form  a  Provisional  Government;  first,  because 
France  must  have  a  Government,  and  secondl}^,  be- 
cause a  Negotiator,  who  could  speak  with  authority, 
was  indispensable.  Afterwards  the  Assembly 
would  have  to  discuss  the  peace  proposals, 
and  to  fix  the  permanent  locality  of  Parlia- 
ment. Such  was  the  order  of  the  urgent 
business  of  the  Assembly  and  of  France  at  that 
moment. 

The  Assembly  had  no  choice  about  placing 
the  Government  in  the  hands  of  M.  Thiers  ; 
it  had  only  to  follow  the  lead  of  the  country. 
Not  only  had  he  been  elected  in  twenty-six 
different  places,  but  he  had    obtained  important 


THE    ASSEMBLY    AT    BORDEAUX.  11 

minorities  in  others,  and  tlie  total  number  of 
votes  given  for  him  exceeded  two  millions. 
When  he  was  returned  for  Paris  in  18()3,  his 
election  was  regarded  throughout  Europe  as 
an  important  event.  He  was  obliged  to  allow 
himself  to  be  chaired,  and  some  one  called 
out  to  him,  "  It  will  be  a  dialogue  between 
the  Emperor  and  you."  In  July,  1870,  the 
Government,  acting  the  braggart's  part,  but  in 
reahty  beginning  to  tremble,  entreated  him  to 
join  the  Council  of  Defence.  He  replied  that  he 
would  only  consent  on  the  invitation  of  the  whole 
Chamber  ;  and  the  Chamber,  like  the  Government, 
knew  that  in  that  hour  of  great  danger  he  was 
indispensable.  On  the  4tli  September  he  was 
entreated  to  preside  at  the  final  sitting.  The 
Provisional  Government  had  recourse  to  him  in 
its  turn,  and  requested  him  to  become  the  advocate 
of  France  with  kings  and  peoples.  He  had  never 
sought  for  popularity;  he  had  braved  it.  All  alike, 
friends  and  enemies,  knew  that  he  was  our  only 
statesman,  and  that  in  his  name  was  our  protec- 
tion and  moral  force. 

During  the  sitting  of  the  16th  February  it  was 
proposed  that  he  should  be  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  Government.  The  proposition  was  signed  by 
Messieurs  Dufaure,  Jules  Grev}^,  Vitet,  Léon  de 
Maleville,    Rivet,   Mathieu     de   la   Eedorte,    and 


78  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

Barthélémy  Saint -Hilare,  and  was  voted  on  tlie 
17th,  upon  the  report  of  M.  Victor  Lefranc. 

"The  commission,"  says  the  Report,  "  does  not 
require  to  lay  before  you  the  motives  for  the 
selection  of  the  man  to  whom  it  requests  you 
to  delegate  the  Executive  Power  of  the  French 
Republic. 

"  The  inspiration  which  led  him,  thirty  years 
ago,  to  fortify  Paris,  that  city  which  famine  only 
has  been  able  to  reduce  (Sensation);  the  foresight 
which  made  him  oppose  the  war  a  few  months 
ago,  while  it  was  yet  possible  to  avert  it,  the 
noble  self-devotion  which  led  him  to  visit  all  the 
nations  of  Europe  that,  in  their  hearing,  he  might 
defend  the  rights  of  civilization  together  with  the 
interests  of  France;  and,  finally,  the  homage 
of  so  many  departments;  all  these  things 
point  him  out  to  our  choice.  [Cheers  arid 
applause.) 

"  Let  us  strengthen  him  by  our  unanimity  : 
it  is  the  only  means  whereby  we  can  add 
to  the  strength  of  his  patriotism.  [Reneived 
applause.) 

"  He  will  find  worthy  auxiliaries  among  those 
who  have  borne  the  burthen  and  the  pain  of  the 
conflict,  both  in  Paris  and  in  the  provinces. 
(Approhation.) 

"  Let   all   France    bo   of  one   mind  with    this 


THE   ASSEMBLY    AT    BORDEAUX.  79 

Assembly;  so  shall  slic  fulfil  the  duties  im- 
posed upon  her  by  her  past,  her  present,  and 
her  future."     (Loud  and  ])rolonged  api^laiise.) 

The  proposition  was  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  The  National  Assembly,  entrusted  with 
Sovereign.  Authority, 

"  Considering  it  important,  before  the  in- 
stitutions of  France  are  settled,  that  the  neces- 
sities of  the  Government  and  the  conduct  of 
the  negotiations  should  be  immediately  provided 
for; 

"  Decrees  : — 

*'  M.  Thiers  is  appointed  Chief  of  the  Execu- 
tive of  the  French  Republic.  He  will  exercise 
his  functions  under  the  authority  of  the  Na- 
tional Assembly,  with  the  assistance  of  Ministers 
whom  he  shall  select,  and  over  whom  he  will 
preside." 

There  was  no  public  ballot.  The  Journal 
Officiel  reports  the  vote  as  follows  : — 

"  The  proposition  was  put  to  the  vote,  and 
adopted  almost  unanimously." 

The  second  paragraph  had  been  added  by  the 
Commission  to  the  primary  proposition.  Its 
object  was  to  place  on  record  that  the  Chamber 
did  not  accept  the  Republican  form  otherwise 
than  provisionally,  and  pending  legislation.  M. 
Louis   Blanc   called   attention  to  this   from   the 


80  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

tribune  ;  adding  to  his  own  protest  that  of  those 
members  of  the  Republican  party  who  regarded 
the  Eepublican  form  as  above  all  discussion  and 
contest.  He  declared  that  France  regarded  the 
provision  for  a  future  revolution,  made  by  the 
Monarchists,  in  the  very  act  which  constituted 
the  Government,  with  uneasiness.  No  truth  was 
ever  more  evident. 

The  majority  in  the  Assembly  was  commencing 
its  struggle  with  the  majority  in  the  country. 

M.  Thiers  had  set  about  formino-  his  Cabinet 
prior  to  his  being  charged  with  the  executive 
power,  indeed  ever  since  the  result  of  the 
elections  had  made  it  evident  that  he  must 
speedily  find  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment. He  resolved  to  take  his  ministers  from 
the  two  great  sections  of  the  Assembly,  the 
Left,  and  the  Eight  Centre.  M.  Dufaure  was 
naturally  indicated  as  the  Minister  of  Justice. 
The  portfolio  of  Commerce  was  confided  to  M. 
Lambrecht,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Legislative  Body  from  18  ^3  to  1860,  had  con- 
stantly voted  with  M.  Thiers,  and  was  remarkable 
for  the  extent  of  his  information,  the  directness 
and  precision  of  his  intelligence,  and  also  for 
elegance  and  clearness  as  a  speaker.  M.  Thiers, 
between  whom  and  M.  Lambrecht  an  old  and 
sincere  friendship  existed,  used  to  say  familiarly 


THE   ASSEMBLY   AT   BORDEAUX.  81 

of  him  that  he  was  "  wisest  of  the  wise."  M. 
de  Larcy,  a  Liberal  Legitimist,  a  member  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  under  Louis  Philippe,  and  a 
determined  enemy  of  the  empire,  became  Minister 
of  Public  AYorks.  This  non-political  office  was 
the  only  share  in  the  composition  of  the  Cabinet 
which  fell  to  the  Legitimist  party.  M.  de  Larcy, 
a  lawyer,  and  formerly  a  magistrate  under  the 
Eestoration,  had  been  for  a  long  time  in  the 
habit  of  taking  part  in  political  assemblies,  and 
was  not  adapted  to  the  office  which  he  was 
appointed  to  fill.  M.  Lambrecht,  an  engineer  in 
official  employ,^  would  have  been  more  suitably 
placed  as  Minister  of  Public  Works  ;  but  M. 
Thiers  was  bent  upon  having  a  Minister  of  Com- 
merce who  shared  his  own  opinions  in  the  matter 
of  Customs.  The  President  retained  General  Le 
Flo  at  the  Ministry  of  War,  and  gave  the  naval 
portfolio  to  Admiral  Pothuan.  General  Le  Flo 
voted  afterwards  with  the  Right,  and  Admiral 
Pothuan  joined  the  Left  Centre  of  the  Assembly, 
but,  at  the  time,  their  respective  nominations 
to  the  Cabinet  were  not  regarded  as  political 
either  by  M.  Thiers,  or  by  the  Chamber.  M. 
Thiers  was  careful  to  explain  his  selection  of 
Admiral  Pothuan  in  his  speech  of  the  10th  March, 
1871.  "The  Naval  Mmister,"  he  said,  "might 
'  In  the  service  known  as  Ponts  et  Chaussées. 
VOL.  I.  G 


82  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

remain  at  Bordeaux  ;  nevertheless  we  wanted  liira 
in  Paris  because  he  is  popular,  and  even  renowned 
there,  not  only  for  good  sense,  but  also  for  calm 
courage.  We  are  glad  to  avail  ourselves  of  tlie 
popularity  he  has  won." 

M.  Thiers  reserved  only  three  out  of  nine 
portfolios  for  Republicans,  but  he  rightly  con- 
sidered that  in  appointing  them  to  the  Ministries 
of  Home  and  Foreign  Affairs  respectively  he  had 
placed  them  in  the  most  important  posts.  M.  Jules 
Favre  had  been  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  under 
the  Government  of  National  Defence,  and  in  Sep- 
tember had  made  the  journey  to  Ferrieres, 
whose  result  was  decisive  division  between  the  Im- 
perial and  the  Republican  policy,  release  of  the 
Government  from  responsibility,  and  the  demon- 
stration of  their  true  situation  to  France  and 
Prussia  respectively.  M.  Jules  Favre  had  also 
negotiated  and  concluded  the  convention  of  the 
28th  January;  it  was  natural  that  he  should 
become  the  associate  and  fellow-labourer,  or 
rather,  as  he  afterwards  said,  the  fellow-martyr 
of  M.  Thiers  in  the  negotiations  about  to  be 
opened.  M.  Jules  Favre  made  his  accept- 
ance of  office  conditional  upon  the  appointment 
of  M.  Ernest  Picard,  his  intimate  friend,  to  the 
Ministry  of  the  Interior.  During  the  early  years 
of  the  Empire,  when    there  were  only  five  dis- 


THE   ASSEMBLY  AT   BORDEAUX.  83 

sentients  in  the  Legislative  Body,  M.  Jales  Favre 
was  the  leader  of  that  small  but  glorious  band, 
and  Messieurs  Ollivier  and  Picard  were  his  com- 
panions in  arms.  In  later  times  M.  Ollivier 
became  a  Minister,  while  M.  Ernest  Picard  re- 
mained by  the  side  of  M.  Jules  Favre  in  the  Re- 
publican Opposition.  They  entered  the  Govern- 
ment of  National  Defence  together,  and  assumed 
its  direction.  M.  Thiers,  who  appreciated  the 
worth  of  M.  Picard,  accepted  his  services  with 
eagerness.  He  begged  M.  Jules  Simon  to  retain 
his  office  as  Minister  of  Public  Instruction. 
On  the  1 9th  February,  M.  Thiers  announced  to 
the  National  Assembly  that  he  had  formed  his 
Cabinet  of  the  gentlemen  above  mentioned. 

The  name  of  the  Minister  of  Finance  was 
missing  from  the  list.  *'  The  choice  is  already 
made  by  the  Council,"  said  M.  Thiers,  "  but  the 
honourable  member  to  whom  the  department  of 
Finance  will  be  entrusted  has  not  yet  reached 
Bordeaux,  so  that  I  do  not  consider  myself  at 
liberty  to  give  publicity  to  his  name." 

For  a  short  time  M.  Thiers  had  thought  of  M. 
Buffet  for  the  Ministry  of  Finance.  On  returning 
to  Paris  he  resolved  to  call  upon  M.  Pouyer- 
Quertier,  one  of  our  chief  manufacturers,  and  a 
powerful  and  original  speaker  on  financial  affairs 
in  the  Legislative  Body,  to  fill  the  important  post. 

G  2 


84  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIEES. 

"  He  is  a  financier  of  the  first  class,"  wrote  M. 
Thiers  to  M.Jules  Simon,  "fertile  in  resource, 
and  bold  to  the  last  degree."  The  economic  views 
of  M.  Pouyer-Quertier,  which  were  shared  by 
M.  Lambrecht,  but  which  M.  Jules  Simon 
strenuously  opposed  in  the  latter  years  of  the 
Empire,  also  recommended  him  to  M.  Thiers. 
The  economic  question  above  all  others  was 
pressing  upon  the  mind  of  the  chief  of  the 
Executive,  and  with  good  reason.  Subjects  of 
disagreement  were  already  but  too  numerous,  in 
the  Council  as  well  as  in  the  Assembly,  and  indeed 
throughout  all  France,  this  one  must  inevitably 
lead  to  fresh  complications,  and  that  speedily, 
since  new  taxes  must  inevitably,  and  soon, 
be  levied.  M.  Thiers  relied  upon  the  moderation 
and  the  patriotism  of  his  colleagues  although 
he  did  not  hope  to  convert  them  all  to  his 
economic  views.  He  wrote  to  M.  Jules  Simon 
as  follows  : — 

"  I  said  to  M.  Pouyer-Quertier  that  he  must 
confine  himself  to  a  moderate  raising  of  the 
tariifs,  a  measure  which  is  indispensable  to  our 
finances,  for  the  customs  only  will  be  able  to  give 
us  one  hundred  millions  of  francs,  the  chief 
resource  of  the  future  budget.  I  also  told  him  that 
his  nomination  was  subject  to  your  acquiescence. 
As  the  Ministry  must   positively  be   completed, 


THE   ASSEMBLY   AT    BORDEAUX.  85 

especially  in  the  department  of  Finance,  which 
must  find  money  by  the  beginning  of  March,  I 
beg  you  will  immediately  summon  the  Council  and 
reply  to  me  by  telegraph.  Do  not  lose  a  moment." 
The  consent  for  which  M.  Thiers  asked  was 
telegraphed  at  once,  but  M.  Jules  Simon  wrote 
to  him  on  the  same  day  : — 

"  M.  de  Lat'cy  takes  exception  on  the  point  of 
free  trade  ;  M.  Dufaure  also,  but  more  formally. 
He  has  expressly  charged  me  to  write  to  you 
to  that  effect  ;  and  to  add  that  he  fears  this 
nomination  will  produce  a  bad  effect  in  England, 
where  it  may  be  interpreted  as  an  abandonment 
of  the  principle  of  free  trade.  I  need  not  tell  you 
that  I  also  take  similar  exception,  and  I  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  Jules  Favre  thinks 
with  me. 

"  I  regret  deeply  that  I  am  obliged  to  speak 
just  now  of  anything  except  the  mission  which 
you  are  accomplishing  so  admirably,  but  the 
first  condition  of  an  honest  ministry  like  ours  is 
that  the  situation  shall  be  perfectly  clear  on  all 
points.  It  must  be  understood  then  that  I  abide 
by  all  the  deplorable  doctrines  which,  as  you  know, 
I  hold,  free  trade,  obhgatory  education,  &c. 
That  point  being  settled,  rest  assured  that  I  will 
help  you  with  all  my  might  to  conclude  the  peace, 
and  to  tranquillize  the  country." 


86  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

On  the  1 9tli  February,  in  announcing  tlie  for- 
mation of  the  Ministry  (M.  Pouyer-Quertier  had 
not  yet  joined  it),  M.  Thiers  made  the  memorable 
speech  in  which  he  set  forth  what  has  since  been 
called  "  the  pact  of  Bordeaux."  This  was  the 
programme  of  the  Cabinet,  and  it  was  scrupulously 
adhered  to  b}''  the  Ministers  and  their  illustrious 
chief,  but  the  majority  of  the  Chamber,  although 
it  was  apparently  adopted  by  them  on  that  day, 
afterwards  refused  to  regard  it  otherwise  than 
as  a  precaution  against  a  Republican  Government. 
When  M.  Thiers  wished  only  to  adjourn,  they 
wanted  to  condemn. 

**  You  have  left  to  me,"  he  said,  "  the  selection 
of  my  colleagues.  I  have  chosen  them  from  no 
motive  of  preference  beyond  the  public  esteem 
universally  accorded  to  the  character  and  the 
capacity  of  each  of  them;  I  have  taken  them 
not  from  one  only  of  the  parties  into  which  we 
are  divided,  but  from  all  ;  just  as  the  country 
did  when  it  gave  you  its  votes,  allowing  persons 
of  the  most  widely-different  opinions  to  figure  upon 
the  self-same  lists,  because  they  are  all  united  by 
patriotism,  intelligence,  and  community  of  good 
intentions.     {Hear  !  hear  !) 

"  France,  flung  into  a  great  war  without  a  grave 
motive. and  in  sufficiently  prepared,  has  seen  one  balf 
of  her  soil  invaded,  her  army  destroyed,  her  fine 


THE    ASSEMBLY   AT    BORDEAUX.  87 

organization  broken  up,  her  ancient  and  powerful 
unity  impaired,  her  finances  crippled,  multitudes 
of  her  sons  torn  from  their  bread-winning  toil  to 
die  on  the  field  of  battle,  order  rudely  disturbed  by 
the  sudden  uprising  of  anarchy,  and  the  war,  sus- 
pended for  a  few  days  only,  after  the  enforced 
surrender  of  Paris,  ready  to  break  out  again  unless 
a  Government,  held  in  esteem  by  Europe,  accept- 
ing power  with  courage,  taking  the  responsibility 
of  most  painful  negotiations  upon  itself,  shall 
put  an  end  to  these  frightful  calamities. 

"  In  the  presence  of  such  a  state  of  things,  is 
there,  can  there  exist  a  division  of  policy  ?  On  the 
contrary,  is  there  not  one  policy  only,  enforced, 
necessary,  urgent  ; — the  securing  of  the  promptest 
possible  cessation  of  the  evils  by  which  we  are 
overwhelmed  ? 

*•'  Is  there  any  one  who  would  venture  to  deny 
that  the  first  thing  to  be  done  and  as  soon  as 
possible,  is  to  bring  the  foreign  occupation  of 
the  territory  to  an  end  by  means  of  a  peace, 
to  be  earnestly  debated,  and  rejected  if  it  be  not 
honourable?  {Hear  !  hear  !  Applause  from  several 
benches.) 

"  Will  any  one  venture  to  tell  us  that  a  more 
pressing  duty  exists  for  us  than  to  free  our  lands 
from  the  enemy  who  treads  them  under  foot,  and 
devours  then*  produce  ;  to  recall  our  soldiers,  our 


88  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIEES. 

officers,  our  generals,  from  their  foreign  prisons 
with  them  to  reconstitute  a  disciplined  and  brave 
army  ;  to  re-establish  order  ;  to  fill  the  places  of 
"unworthy  officials,  or  of  such  as  have  resigned  ; 
to  reform  our  dissolved  General  and  Municipal 
Councils  by  election;  {Hear!  hear!)  to  reconstruct 
our  disorganized  administration,  check  ruinous 
expenditure,  re-establish — if  not  our  finance, — that 
we  could  not  expect  to  do  in  a  day — at  least  our 
credit,  which  is  our  only  means  of  facing  our 
pressing  engagements  ;  to  send  back  our  mobiles 
to  their  fields  and  their  workshops  ;  to  reopen  the 
intercepted  highways,  to  rebuild  the  demolished 
bridges  ;  to  revive  labour  which  is  everywhere  sus- 
pended, labour  which  alone  can  secure  the  means 
of  existence  to  our  workmen  and  our  peasants  ? 
{Hear!  hear!)  Is  it  possible  that  any  here 
present  would  enter  upon  a  lengthy  discussion  of 
articles  of  constitution,  while  our  prisoners  are 
languishing  in  distant  lands,  and  om'  starving 
populations  are  forced  to  relinquish  their  last 
morsel  of  bread  to  foreign  soldiers  ?  {Prolonged 
sensation.) 

"  No,  no,  gentlemen  ;  the  only  policy  possible 
or  even  conceivable  at  this  moment  is  that  of  re- 
organization, of  the  revival  of  labour,  of  the  resto- 
ration of  credit.  In  these  tasks  every  sensible, 
honest,  and  intelligent  man,  let  him  think  as  he 


THE    ASSEMBLY   AT    EOKDEAUX.  89 

may  about  the  Monarchy  or  the  Republic,  may 
worthily  and  usefully  assist  ;  and  if  he  has  laboured 
for  those  ends  for  only  one  year,  or  for  six 
months,  then  he  may  retire  unto  the  bosom  of  his 
country,  with  head  erect  and  conscience  at  ease. 
{Rear!  hear!) 

"  When  we  shall  have  rendered  those  pressing 
services  which  I  liave  just  enumerated  to  our 
country,  when  we  shall  have  raised  up  bleeding 
France,  now  lying  low,  when  we  shall  have 
healed  her  wounds  and  renovated  her  strength, 
then  we  shall  restore  her  to  her  own  guidance, 
and  she,  having  recovered  her  liberty  of  spirit, 
standing  firm  once  more,  shall  rule  her  life  as  she 
pleases."     {Loud  apj^Ianse.) 

M.  Thiers  concluded  his  speech  with  an  eloquent 
appeal  for  concord.  The  building  resounded,  for 
several  minutes  with  the  applause  with  which 
every  member  of  all  the  parties  greeted  his  brave 
and  noble  words.  He  repeated  the  same  declara- 
tions, with  equal  precision  and  with  similar 
success,  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Assembly  at 
Bordeaux,  on  the  10th  March.  The  question  was 
the  place  in  which  the  Assembly  should  sit.  The 
Extreme  Left  wanted  Paris,  the  Right  demanded 
Fontainebleau,  the  Government  designated  Ver- 
sailles. After  he  had  discussed  the  question  in  a 
lofty  tone,  and  with  irresistible  effect,  M.  Thiers 


90  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

went  on  to  speak  of  the  part  wliich  the  Assembly 
liad  now  to  act.  "  You  are  sovereign,"  said  he  to 
his  colleagues.  "  Never  was  there  an  Assembly 
elected  more  freely,  or  with  more  extensive  powers 
conferred  upon  it.  You  have  the  power,  if  you 
choose  to  use  it,  of  making  a  Constitution  ;  but  you 
will  be  wise  enough  to  forego  the  exercise  of  your 
power."  These  words  met  with  some  opposition 
from  the  benches  on  the  Right,  and  he  then  dwelt 
upon  the  divisions  in  the  Assembly,  and  their 
inevitable  consequences,  should  such  a  moment  be 
chosen  for  framing  a  Constitution.  "France," 
said  he,  "  needs  all  our  efforts,  she  requires 
union  among  us,  for  her  new  birth.  Let  us 
adjourn  our  divisions,  and  working  heartily 
at  our  most  pressing  business,  under  the 
Government  de  facto,  leave  the  future  an  open 
question." 

Dealing  with  the  characteristics  of  the  parties 
in  the  Assembly,  M.  Thiers  dwelt  on  two  only, 
as  befitted  a  practical  man,  fully  aware  of  the 
powerlessness  of  the  Legitimists,  and  the  worth- 
lessness  of  the  Bonapartists.  "  You  are  divided,'* 
he  said,  "into  two  great  parties: — one,  and 
this  is  perfectly  legitimate,  perfectly  respect- 
able,— believes  that  France  can  find  definitive 
repose  only  under  a  constitutional  monarchy  ;  the 
other,  as  sincerely,  believes  that  in  the  institu- 


THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  BORDEAUX.         91 

tions  which  you  have  conferred  upon  yourselves, 
in  that  great  institution,  Universal  Suffrage,  in 
the  general  direction  of  the  movement  of  men's 
minds,  in  the  disturbance  which  exists  at  the 
centres  of  Government  all  the  world  over,  there 
is  something  which  draws  existing  generations 
towards  the  Republic." 

M.  Thiers  spoke  of  the  opposed  parties  with 
equal  respect,  which  was  not  only  very  politic 
on  his  part,  but  also  quite  sincere.  "  Let  calumny 
cease  among  us,"  he  said,  "let  us  learn  to  do 
justice,  and  to  respect  each  other's  opinions." 
He  made  a  brief  allusion  to  the  internal  dissen- 
sions among  the  different  parties.  "  There  are 
Republicans  who  believe  that  the  Republic, 
even  when  it  is  not  in  their  hands,  is  still 
the  Republic.  There  arc  others  who  admit 
the  Republic  only  when  it  is  in  their  hands." 
Recalling  the  errors  into  which  the  first  Republic 
fell  in  the  final  years  of  its  existence,  and 
the  long-continued  exposure  of  them,  while  the 
excesses  of  the  White  Terror  were  scrupulously 
kept  in  the  shade,  knowing  besides  that  a 
party  cannot  improvise  capable  administrators 
off-hand,  and  that  to  know  how  to  use  power 
it  must  be  for  some  time  in  power  ;  and  also, 
perhaps,  yielding  in  some  measure  to  the  in- 
fluence  of   his   old    monarchical    prejudices,    M. 


92  THE    GOVERîs^MENT   OP    M.    THIERS. 

Thiers  uttered  tlie  plirase  "  a  Republic  without 
Republicans,"  wliich  might  indeed  define  a  system, 
but  which,  as  he  used  it,  was  nothing  more 
than  an  exhortation  to  wisdom  and  moderation. 
Those  words  were  afterwards  turned  into  a 
weapon  in  the  hands  of  those  enemies  of  the 
Republic  who  for  a  while  governed  it.  "I 
do  not  want,"  he  added,  "  to  flatter  any  one — 
at  my  age  I  am  not  likely  to  begin  to  do  what 
I  have  never  done  under  any  system,  I  have 
flattered  neither  king,  nor  people,  nor  party; — I 
profoundly  honour  those  who  have  the  good  sense 
to  recognize  that  the  institution  itself  not  being 
reassuring,  it  is  necessary  that  the  men  should 
be  so. 

"  What,  then,  is  our  duty  ?  "  said  M.  Thiers  in 
conclusion.  "  What  is  the  duty  which  I,  whom 
you  have  overwhelmed  with  your  confidence,  am 
bound  to  fulfil  ?  It  is  loyal  dealing  towards  all 
the  parties  which  divide  France  and  which  divide 
the  Assembly.  It  is  due  to  them  all  that  we 
deceive  none  of  them  ;  that  we  do  not  so  act 
as  to  prepare  without  your  knowledge  an  ex- 
clusive solution,  which  would  cause  dismay  to 
the  other  parties.     {Hear!  hear  !) 

"  No,  I  swear  in  presence  of  the  country,  and 
if  I  might  consider  myself  so  important  that 
I  may    allude   to    history,    I  would    say  that   I 


THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  BORDEAUX.         93 

swear  in  presence  of  history,  that  I  will  not  deceive 
any  of  you,  that  I  will  not  prepare  through  the 
medium  of  constitutional  questions  any  solution 
unknown  to  you,  and  which  would  be  a  sort  of 
treason  on  my,  on  our,  part.     (Loud  applause) 

*'  Monarchists,  E;epui)licans,  no  !  Neither  one 
party  nor  the  other  shall  be  deceived.  We  have 
accepted  only  a  single  mission,  but  it  is  almost 
overwhelming.  We  will  occupy  ourselves  solely 
with  the  reorganization  of  the  country.  We 
shall  always  ask  for  your  support  in  that  re- 
organization, because  we  know  that  if  we  step 
beyond  this  limited  task  we  divide  you,  and  our- 
selves. 

"  We  will  labour  at  this  dijBScult  work  only. 
But  I  must  be  permitted  to  say  to  men  who  have 
given  their  whole  lives  to  the  Republic,  be  just 
to  those  members  of  this  Assembly  who  do  not 
think  as  you  do. 

"  You  have  called  me  Chief  of  the  Executive  of 
the  French  Republic.  In  every  act  of  the  Govern- 
ment, the  word  Republic  is  repeatedly  used.  If 
we  succeed  in  effecting  reorganization  it  will  be 
done  under  the  Republican  form  and  to  its  profit. 
(Hear  !  hear  !  from  several  benches  !)  You  must 
not  come  and  say  to  us,  *Do  not  sacrifice  the 
Republic  !  '  for  I  should  reply,  *  Do  not  ruin  it 
yourselves  I  ' 


94  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

"  The  Eepublic  is  in  your  hands,  it  will  be  the 
reward  of  your  own  prudence  and  of  nothing  else. 
Every  time  that  you  lose  your  temper,  every  time 
that  you  raise  inopportune  questions,  every  time 
that  you  appear  to  be,  let  me  say  the  confidants 
or  the  involuntary  accomplices — certainly  invo- 
luntary— of  the  party  of  disorder  ;  say  to  your- 
self that  by  accepting  this  apparent  complicity 
you  deal  the  Republic  the  deadliest  of  blows. 
(Sensation.) 

"When  the  country  has  been  reorganized,  we 
shall  come  here,  if  happily  we  ourselves  have  been 
able  to  reorganize  it,  if  our  strength  have  sufficed, 
if  we  have  not  lost  your  confidence  by  the  way  ; 
then,  in  that  case,  we  shall  come  as  soon  as  we 
can,  very  happy,  very  proud  of  having  contributed 
to  that  noble  deed,  and  we  shall  say  to  you, 
'  You  confided  the  country  to  us,  bleeding, 
covered  with  wounds,  scarce  alive  ;  we  restore  it 
to  you  somewhat  revived,  now  is  the  moment  to 
give  it  the  form  which  it  is  definitely  to  wear.' 
And  I  give  you  the  word  of  an  honest  man, 
on  not  one  of  the  reserved  questions  shall  any 
resolution  have  been  taken;  no  solution  shall 
have  been  effected  by  a  breach  of  faith  on  our 
part." 

The  speech  of  M.  Thiers  was  followed  by  long- 
continued  and  enthusiastic  acclamations,  and  the 


THE    ASSEMBLY    AT    BOEDEAUX.  95 

orator  was  surrounded,  almost  mobbed,  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Assembly  wlio  expressed  their  admira- 
tion of  it,  some  of  them  with  tears.  It  was  not 
the  orator  whom  they  admired,  whom  they 
thanked,  though  he  had  never  been  greater;  it 
was  the  statesman,  the  patriot,  and — no  one 
would  then  have  thought  the  word  too  strong — 
the  saviour. 

This  speech  was  delivered  on  the  10th  March, 
and  in  it  M.  Thiers  had  almost  announced  the 
insurrection  which  actually  did  take  place  on  the 
18th.  More  than  one  among  his  hearers  might 
afterwards  have  recalled  those  memorable  words  : 
"  Every  time  that  you  appear  to  be  the  con- 
fidants or  the  accomplices  of  the  party  of  disorder, 
you  deal  the  E-epublic  the  deadliest  of  blows." 
How  often,  afterwards,  the  whole  Assembly,  the 
Left  as  well  as  the  Eight,  ought  to  have  bethought 
themselves  of  those  other  words,  spoken  with 
such  solemn  sadness  :  "  There  is  too  much 
calumny  among  us  !  Let  us  respect  each  other's 
opinions."  France  had  so  much  need  of  peace  ! 
There  was  such  a  great  work  to  be  done  in 
common  ! 

It  was  not,  however,  easy  to  bring  about  in- 
ternal peace  in  the  country.  Civil  war  was  on 
the  point  of  breaking  out  in  Paris.  Strife,  less 
fierce  indeed,  but  which,  for  the  misfortune  of 


96  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

France,  was  destined  to  last  for  years,  already 
existed  in  the  National  Assembly.  Twice  only 
during  tlie  sittings  at  Bordeaux  did  tlie  various 
parties  seem  to  be  fused  together  in  a  common 
purpose;  first  on  the  nomination  of  M.  Thiers 
as  Chief  of  the  Executive,  and  secondly,  on 
the  proclamation  of  the  abolition  of  the  Em- 
pire. The  latter  solemn  decision  was  brought 
about  by  an  incident  of  the  sitting  on  the  1st 
March. 

M.  Bamberger,  the  deputy  from  Metz,  had 
ascended  the  tribune,  to  protest  against  the  treaty 
of  peace,  "or  rather,"  said  he,  "the  treaty  of 
shame."  "  One  man  only  ought  to  have  signed 
it,"  continued  M.  Bamberger,  "  Napoleon  the 
Third."  Then  M.  Gallioni  was  heard  to  exclaim, 
"  Napoleon  the  Third  would  never  have  signed  a 
shameful  treaty  !"  In  a  moment  there  arose  the 
wildest  confusion.  All  the  members  of  the 
Assembly  stood  up,  and  all  spoke,  or  rather 
shouted  simultaneously.  The  public  in  the 
galleries,  as  indignant  as  the  deputies,  shouted 
with  them.  M.  Conti  made  his  way  towards  the 
tribune  amid  cries  of  "  Let  him  speak  !  Let  him 
explain  himself!  Let  him  justify  the  Emperor  ! 
Let  him  dare  to  defend  him  who  has  betrayed  and 
ruined  France  !  " 

"  I  stand  here,"  said  M.  Conti,  "  to  defend,  with 


THE    ASSEMBLY   AT   BORDEAUX.  97 

earnest  conviction  a  glorious  past,  a  revered 
sovereign,  whom  France  has  applauded  by  four 
plebiscites,  to  whom  those  who  now  revile  me 
have,  like  me,  sworn  allegiance,  to  whom  our 
country  owes  fifteen  years  of  repose  and  prosperity. 
If  my  protest  be  stifled  here,  I  hope,  I  am  sure, 
that  it  will  resound  throughout  the  whole  of 
France." 

"  A  glorious  past  !  "  cried  M.  Yitet,  "  say  a 
shameful  past.  Plebiscites  imposed  by  craft  and 
violence  !  Did  not  your  Emperor  take  the  oath  to 
the  Republic  ?  You  call  years  of  oppression  and 
tyranny  years  of  peace.  Peace  !  You  have  gone 
to  war  against  the  will  of  France  four  times  over  ! 
When  M.  Thiers  demanded  the  preservation  of 
peace,  you  drove  him  from  the  tribune  !  You 
brought  about  the  war  by  lies,  and  went  into  it  like 
madmen,  without  allies,  without  resources,  without 
generals  !  You  are  responsible  for  the  blood 
of  our  soldiers,  sacrificed  by  your  criminal 
folly  !  responsible  for  our  humiliation,  our  ruin, 
and  the  dismemberment  of  France  !  "  M.  Galloni, 
M.  Gavini,  and  M.  Haentjens  supported  M.  Conti, 
but  they  only  were  with  him.  M.  Bamberger 
pushed  his  way  to  the  tribune,  and  took  his  place 
beside  M.  Conti.  M.  Victor  Hugo  joined  the  two, 
and  also  endeavoured  to  speak.  The  President 
could  not  get  a  hearing.     A  member  called  out 

VOL.  I.  H 


98  THE   GOVEUNMENT   OF   M.    THIEIiS. 

loudly  :  "  The  deposition  of  the  Empire  must  be 
proclaimed  !  "  Then  arose  the  cry,  "  Deposition  ! 
Deposition  !  "  {La  déchéance  !  La  déchéance  !) 
from  every  part  of  the  Assembly  :  it  rolled  like 
thunder  through  the  galleries,  the  corridors,  and 
the  staircases,  until  it  reached  and  was  echoed  by 
the  dense  crowd  which  thronged  the  Place  de 
Tourny  and  the  adjacent  streets,  and  by  the 
troops  under  arms  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Theatre. 
The  President  suspended  the  sitting,  which  was 
resumed  half  an  hour  later,  and  then  M.  Grévy 
read  the  text  of  an  order  of  the  day  which  had 
been  laid  upon  his  desk  : — 

"  The  National  Assembly  closes  the  incident, 
and  under  the  grievous  circumstances  in  which  the 
country  is  placed,  in  presence  of  unexpected  pro- 
tests and  exceptions,  confirms  the  deposition  of 
Napoleon  the  Third  and  of  his  dynasty,  which 
has  been  already  proclaimed  by  universal  suffrage, 
and  declares  him  responsible  for  the  ruin,  the 
invasion,  and  the  humiliation  of  France." 

The  reading  of  this  order  of  the  day  was  followed 
by  prolonged  acclamations.  All  the  members  of 
the  Assembly  rose  to  their  feet,  applauding,  and 
shouting  "  bravo  !  "  A  great  number  of  Repiib- 
licans  were  among  the  signatories,  but  every 
one  wanted  to  sign,  all  parties  were  represented. 
The  names  of  Messieurs  Lambert  de  Sainte- Croix, 


THE    ASSEMBLY    AT    BORDEAUX.  99 

de  Brette-Thurin,  Wallon,  Victor  de  Laprade, 
Baragnon,  and  de  Marinier,  were  side  by  side  with 
those  of  Messieurs  Target,  Paul  Bethmont,  and 
Charles  Rolland.  Three  times  the  cheering  was 
renewed.  M.  Conti  again  demanded  permission 
to  speak,  in  the  midst  of  general  indignation. 
"  Give  him  leave,"  said  M.  Thiers  ;  "  Monsieur  le 
Président,  give  him  leave  to  speak  !  Sustain  his 
demand  !  "  The  President,  finding  it  impossible 
to  procure  silence,  M.  Thiers  made  up  his  mind, 
ascended  the  tribune,  and  said, — 

"  Gentlemen,  I  have  proposed  a  policy  of  con- 
ciliation and  of  peace,  and  I  hoped  that  everybody 
would  understand  our  reserve  and  silence  with 
respect  to  the  past.  When,  however,  that  past 
uplifts  itself  again  before  the  country,  when  it 
seems  to  mock  our  misfortunes,  which  it  has  caused, 
not  by  its  faults  only,  but  also  by  its  crimes,  we  are 
bound  to  answer  on  the  instant,  and  make  known 
the  truth.  Do  you  know,  gentlemen,  what  those 
princes  whom  you  represent  are  saying  in  Europe  ? 
They  are  saying  that  it  is  not  they  who  are  guilty 
of  the  war,  they  are  saying  that  we  are  guilty,  that 
France  is  guilty  of  it  !  Well  then,  I  give  them  the 
lie  in  the  face  of  Europe.  No,  France  did  not  want 
war  ;  it  was  you,  you  who  now  protest,  who  would 
have  it  !  You  have  disowned  the  truth,  but  it  has 
risen  to   confront  you  to-day,  and  it  seems  like  a 

H  2 


100  THE    GOVEENMENT    OF   M.    THIEES. 

judgment  from  heaven  that  here,  in  this  place,  you 
should  be  obliged  to  undergo  the  sentence  of  the 
nation  which  will  be  that  of  posterity." 

After  these  terrible  words,  the  order  of  the  day 
was  put  to  the  vote.  "  The  Assembly  confirms  the 
deposition  of  Napoleon  the  Third  and  his  dynasty, 
already  pronounced  by  universal  suffrage,  and 
declares  him  responsible  for  the  ruin,  the  invasion, 
and  the  dismemberment  of  France."  A  few 
members  stood  up  at  the  counter-proof.  "  I 
afQrm,"  said  M.  Cochery,  "  that  five  members  only 
have  stood  up  at  the  counter-proof."  "  There 
are  six,"  said  M.  Wilson  in  his  turn,  "  not  one 
more  !  I  require  that  the  fact  be  stated  in  tho 
Moniteur." 

After  such  a  sitting  as  this,  and  considering  the 
effect  which  it  produced  on  the  country,  it  might 
have  been  beheved  that  Bonapartism  was  finally 
and  irrevocably  vanquished.  The  Republicans 
had  not  exhibited  greater  indignation  than  the 
Constitutionalists  and  the  Legitimists.  M.  Vitet, 
usually  so  circumspect,  and  M.  de  Franclieu,  had 
remained  during  the  entire  scene  at  the  foot  of  the 
tribune,  in  the  midst  of  the  excited  throng,  and 
were  with  difficulty  restrained  by  their  friends. 
Nevertheless,  this  party,  condemned,  stigmatized, 
dishonoured  by  a  solemn  vote,  in  which  all  the 
other  parties  without  exception  had  taken  a  part, 


THE    ASSEMBLY    AT   BORDEAUX.  101 

reduced  to  six  members  in  tlie  Assembly,  and  witli 
no  organs  except  M.  Conti  (who  died  shortly 
afterwards),  M.  Gavini,  and  M.  Galloni  d'Istria, 
was  destined  to  become  in  time  the  most 
influential  in  that  same  Assembly.  It  ob- 
tained toleration  from  the  Monarchists,  in  the 
first  place,  as  a  useful  auxiliary  in  their  incessant 
struggle  against  the  Republic  and  Republicans: 
then  it  became  a  necessary  make-weight,  securing 
the  victory  to  the  side  to  which  it  leaned,  after 
this  it  profited  by  the  senseless  political  cam- 
paigns of  the  Orleanists  and  the  Legitimists,  who 
seemed  to  put  themselves  forward  to  meet  defeat, 
and  finally  it  became  the  director-in-chief  of  the 
manœuvres  of  the  Right,  and  their  eventual 
beneficiary. 

In  order  to  account  for  this  extraordinary  luck, 
we  must  thoroughly  understand  that  its  point  of 
departure,  at  Bordeaux  itself,  was  the  hatred 
of  the  Republic  and  Republicans  entertained 
by  all  the  Monarchists.  The  explosion  of  wrath 
against  the  imperial  régime  which  took  place  on 
the  1st  March  is  easily  explicable  by  the  revival  of 
the  recollection  of  our  recent  misfortunes,  and  the 
discussion  of  the  preliminaries  of  peace  on  the 
same  day.  The  Bonapartists,  however,  were  well 
aware  that  hatred  of  the  Republic  was  an  older 
and  a  deeper  sentiment,  and  one  which  would  last 


102  THE    GOVEENMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

longer  in  the  breasts  of  the  majority  of  tlie  Mon- 
archists. Republicans  were  constantly  represented 
as  enemies  of  religion  and  property.  The  identi- 
fication of  them  with  atheists  and  socialists  was 
merely  a  continuation  of  a  system  of  calumny 
which  dates  back  to  the  earliest  contests  between 
the  Royalists  and  the  Revolution  in  1789.  The 
Bonapartists  added  to  these  charges  against  the 
Republicans  that  they  had  caused  our  disasters 
by  urging  on  the  war,  disorganizing  the  army, 
bringing  about  a  revolution  in  presence  of  the 
enemy,  prolonging  resistance,  and  refusing  to 
summon  the  Assembly.  All  these  imputations 
were  false. 

The  Republicans  had  not  urged  on  the  war  ;  on 
the  contrary  they  had  resisted  to  the  utmost  the 
declaration  of  war  which  was  made  by  the  leaders 
of  the  Bonapartist  party,  in  sj^ite  of  the  Repub- 
licans and  of  all  France.  The  Republicans  had 
not  disorganized  the  army;  they  had  merely 
insisted  together  with  the  whole  of  the  Legislative 
body  upon  a  reduction  of  10,000  men  on  the  con- 
tingent proposed  by  M.  Emile  Ollivier.  Neither 
had  they  brought  about  a  revolution  in  presence 
of  the  enemy;  but  they  had  courageously  and 
patriotically  assumed  power  when  the  Empire 
fell,  crushed  under  the  weight  of  its  own  sins 
and  our  misfortunes,  and  unable  to  command  the 


THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  BOHDEAUX.        103 

obedience  of  either  soldiers  or  officials.  Tliat  tlie 
Republicans  bad  not  voluntarily  prolonged  resis- 
tance to  the  enemy  after  the  4th  September 
was  amply  proved  by  the  interview  at  Fer- 
rieres.  They  were,  indeed,  forced  in  their  own 
despite  to  continue  the  war,  and  they  urged  it 
on  vigorously,  according  to  the  laws  of  honour, 
until  the  moment  at  which  further  resistance 
had  become  impossible.  They  had  not  refused 
to  summon  a  National  Assembly,  but  they  had 
not  thought  it  possible  to  do  so  without  an 
armistice,  and  while  one  half  of  France  was 
invaded.  These  contradictory  assertions,  some 
of  which  were  grossly  absurd,  were  made  by  the 
Bonapartists  in  all  their  newspapers,  with  the 
object  of  distracting  public  attention  from  the 
crimes  of  the  Empire. 

Although  the  country  at  large  treated  the 
calumnies  of  the  Bonapartists  with  the  contempt 
they  deserved,  it  was  otherwise  in  the  Assem- 
bly, where  the  most  timid  of  conservatives  and 
the  most  fanatical  of  clericals  were  among  the 
members.  That  it  was  their  set  purpose  to  get 
rid  of  the  Republic  and  make  war  on  Repub- 
licans became  especially  evident  when  the  ques- 
tion of  fixing  the  seat  of  Government  outside  of 
Paris  came  on  for  discussion.  To  the  Right,  at 
that  moment,  Paris  meant  Republic. 


104  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIEES. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  tbat  the  question  was 
wbetber  not  tlie  Assembly  only,  but  the  Chief  of 
the  State,  the  Ministers  and  the  entire  adminis- 
tration should  not  be  located  outside  of  Paris,  and 
even,  if  the  more  extreme  had  been  listened  to, 
at  a  great  distance  from  the  capital.  The  present 
aspect  of  the  same  question  is  entirely  changed. 
The  President  of  the  Republic  and  all  the  Ministers 
reside  in  Paris.  The  public  offices  have  never 
been  transferred.  A  few  officials  are  sent  to  Ver- 
sailles, during  the  session  of  the  Assembly,  that 
the  law  may  appear  to  be  observed.  In  fact  the 
resolutions  adopted  at  Bordeaux,  and  confirmed 
by  constitutional  law  are  obsolete,  with  the  sole 
exception  that  the  Assembly  and  the  Senate  meet 
at  Versailles  instead  of  meeting  at  the  Palais 
Bourbon,  and  the  Luxembourg.  This  is  a  great 
inconvenience  to  the  members  of  the  two  Assem- 
blies, who  lose  much  time  every  day,  attend  com- 
mittees irregularly,  and  have  few  opportunities  of 
meeting  and  coming  to  an  understanding  with 
one  another.  It  is  a  still  greater  inconvenience 
to  the  Ministers  who  are  at  a  distance  from  their 
bureaus,  and  consequently  from  the  centres  of 
information  and  business  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  day.  What  does  Paris  lose  by  all  this  ? 
Nothing.  When  the  discussion  took  place  at 
Bordeaux,  on  the  10th  March,  1871,  a  week  before 


THE    ASSEMBLY   AT   BOEDEAUX.  105 

the  outbreak  of  the  Commune,  the  case  was  en- 
tirely different. 

M.  Thiers  proposed  "Versailles.  He  would  have 
preferred  Paris,  for  he  loved  the  capital  deeply 
and  truly,  and  would  not  willingly  have  consented 
to  inflict  a  slight  upon  it.  He  was  fully  aware 
that  the  tide  of  business  flowed  there,  that  the 
Government  ought  not  to  be  far  from  the 
great  financial  centre  ;  that  the  danger,  if  danger 
there  were,  from  the  crowded  state  of  the  city, 
and  the  floating  population,  rendered  the  presence 
of  the  Government  all  the  more  necessary.  "  A 
Prefect  at  Paris  ?  "  said  he.  "  If  you  know  one 
who  would  be  capable  of  governing  and  restrain- 
ing it,  show  him  to  me.  I  shall  be  delighted. 
He  shall  be  put  at  the  head  of  the  Government  ; 
and  rid  me  of  a  very  heavy  burden."  M.  Thiers 
felt  the  necessity  of  restoring  its  former  splendour 
to  the  great  city  which  is  not  only  the  political,  but 
also  the  literary,  scientific,  industrial,  and  financial 
capital  of  the  country.  To  make  little  of  Paris 
is  to  make  little  of  France,  and  to  lessen  its 
wealth.  Foreigners  come  to  see  Paris  rather  than 
France.  To  wealthy  and  enlightened  Europe 
Paris  is  France,  and  the  strength  and  splendour 
of  France  is  estimated  by  the  strength  and  splen- 
dour of  Paris.  All  the  rest  of  the  world  takes  its 
tastes,  its  fashions,  and  its  customs  from  Paris, 


106  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

submits  to  its  judgment,  comes  tliitlier  as  to  tlie 
universal  meeting-place,  the  centre  of  civilization. 
Our  history  itself  would  be  less  comprehensible  if 
Paris  "were  no  longer  the  capital.  One  of  the 
most  admirable  speeches  ever  made  by  M.  Thiers 
was  his  speech  of  the  10th  March,  and  all  its  con- 
clusions were  in  favour  of  Paris.  Nevertheless  he 
said,  several  times  over,  "  I  do  not  propose  Paris 
to  you."     Why  ?     He  did  not  give  his  reason. 

The  growing  excitement  of  which  he  had  just 
been  a  witness,  and  which,  a  week  later,  cul- 
minated in  insurrection,  was  the  explanation.  He 
could  not  propose  Paris,  and,  had  he  done  so, 
it  is  not  unlikely  that,  almost  all-powerful  as  his 
influence  was,  the  proposal  would  have  been  re- 
jected. He  was  restrained  by  that  consideration 
also.  He  did  propose  that  the  seat  of  the  Assem- 
bly should  be  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  with  the 
certainty  that  when  things  should  have  calmed 
down,  the  Government,  if  not  the  Assembly, 
would  remove  to  Paris.  Time  has  proved  that  he 
was  right.  The  Monarchical  majority,  who  had 
come  to  Versailles  against  their  will,  have  made 
strenuous  efforts  to  keep  the  Government  there. 
They  thought  nothing  of  spending  millions  for 
this  purpose.  They  would  have  erected  all  the 
necessary  buildings,  without  reflecting  that  a 
more  colossal  Paris  would  probably  be  the   sole 


THE    ASSEMBLY   AT   BOEDEAUX.  107 

result,  for,  after  all,  it  is  only  half  an  hour  from 
the  Palais  Bourbon  to  the  Château  de  Ver- 
sailles. They  even  inserted  an  Article  in  the 
Constitution  which  very  nearly  threw  everything 
into  confusion,  and  which,  though  put  in  practice 
by  the  two  Chambers  because  they  can  obey  it  at 
the  cost  of  some  inconvenience,  is  openly  violated 
by  the  President  of  the  Pepublic,  because  it  would 
be  at  once  improper  and  impossible  for  him  to  con- 
form to  it.  How  was  it  that  the  Monarchists,  who 
foresaw  these  consequences,  and  who  wanted  Fon- 
tainebleau in  order  to  avoid  them,  agreed  to  Ver- 
sailles? Several  of  the  least  clear-sighted  among 
them  said,  "  It  is  not  Paris."  Others,  conscious  of 
the  enormity  of  their  demands,  had  not  suËBcient 
courage  to  persist.  They  were  strong  in  the 
Assembly,  but  very  weak  in  the  country,  and  they 
knew  it.  They  did  not  even  venture  to  propose 
Bourges,  their  ideal,  openly.  They  held  to  Fon- 
tainebleau, which  did  not  mean  another  capital, 
but  no  capital  at  all;  a  locality  in  which  the 
Government  would  be  deprived  of  the  means  of 
action,  but  an  insurrection  would  not.  Fontaine- 
bleau was,  in  plain  words,  a  folly.  Bourges  would 
have  been  an  outrage;  Versailles  was  an  expedient. 
Versailles  carried  the  day  by  a  large  majority. 

The  true  sentiments  of  the  Monarchists   came 
out  on  several  occasions   during  the  debate.     M. 


108  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIEES. 

Louis  Blanc  was  the  first  speaker.  "  Why,"  said 
he,  "  should  we  follow  up  one  provisional  install- 
ation by  another  ?  Why  should  we  be  condemned 
to  offer  to  all  Europe  the  spectacle  of  a  wandering 
Assembly,  which  goes  begging  for  a  refuge  in  the 
very  country  which  it  represents  ?  Is  it  because 
we  are  afraid  of  Paris  ?" 

A  Memher. — "  Yes." 

The  Assembly  instantly  recognized  the  impru- 
dence of  this  utterance,  and  cries  of  "  No,  No  !  " 
arose  on  all  sides.  The  rectification  might  be 
sound  policy,  but  the  word  had  been  uttered.  A 
little  later  in  his  speech  M.  Louis  Blanc  put  this 
question  : — 

"  Is  there  not  a  party  in  the  Assembly  which, 
in  order  to  disarm  what  it  calls  the  Revolution, 
would  remove  the  seat  of  Government  from  Paris 
for  ever  ?" 

A  Voice  on  the  Bight. — "  Yes." 

M.  Louis  Blanc. — "  You  say,  *  Yes.'  Oh,  my 
fellow-citizens,  reflect  on  this,  and  do  not,  I  entreat 
of  you,  touch  the  national  unity.  To  do  so  would 
be  to  complete  by  the  hands  of  Frenchmen  that 
dismemberment  of  our  beloved  France  that  has 
been  commenced  by  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
and,  perhaps,  to  kindle  from  the  ashes  of  the 
horrible  foreign  war  that  is  hardly  yet  over,  a 
civil  war  more  horrible  still.  {Great  a^jplause 
from  several  benches.) 


THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  BORDEAUX.        109 

"  The  other  day  one  of  my  colleagues  said  in 
my  presence, — 

"  *  Hitherto  revolution  has  marched  from  Paris 
on  the  provinces.  It  is  time  that  order  should 
march  from  the  provinces  on  Paris.'  "  {Hear!  hear! 
on  the  Right.) 

M.  Alfred  Giraud  replied  to  M.  Louis  Blanc. 
"  Many  representatives  have,  like  myself,  received, 
not  an  imperative  mandate — that  we  would  not 
have  accepted — but  an  imperious  one.  This 
mandate  is  so  to  act  that  the  Assembly  shall  not 
deliberate  either  under  the  bullets  of  the  Prussians 
or  the  paving  stones  of  rioters.  Afraid  !  The 
word  *  afraid  '  has  been  uttered,  and  I  accept  the 
challenge.  Yes,  I  am  afraid  !  Not  for  myself. 
I  am  afraid  for  the  National  Assembly.  I  am 
afraid  for  my  country.  France  has  endured 
misfortune  enough  to  earn  our  compassion 
for  her,  grand,  dear,  and  mournful  wreck  as  she 
is!" 

M.  de  Belcastel  expressed  himself  with  complete 
frankness. 

"What  is,"  said  he,  "the  mind  of  the  great 
majority  in  France  on  this  vital  point  ?  I  be- 
lieve it  to  be  this  : — 

"  France  knows  that  ten  times  in  eighty  years 
Paris  has  sent  her  ready-made  governments  by 
telegraph.     {Assent  on  the  Right.) 

"  She  knows  that  iusurrections,  even  when  they 


no  THE   GOVEENMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

are  put  down,  are  ugly  dates.  She  knows  that 
Paris  is  the  head-quarters  of  organized  revolt 
(Assent  on  the  Bight),  the  capital  of  the  revolutio- 
nary idea,  though  only  temporarily  so,  I  hope  and 
believe.  However,  while  this  violent  state  of 
crisis,  of  which  she  is  the  judge,  lasts,  France 
will  not,  because  she  ought  not,  deliver  up  her 
fortunes,  and  her  last  remaining  citadel,  your 
Assembly,  gentlemen,  to  the  chances  of  a  contest 
and  to  the  pressure  of  that  idea." 

M.  Fresneau,  although  he  pronounced  a  glow- 
ing eulogium  upon  Paris,  spoke  as  follows  : — 

"  The  mere  fact  of  these  deliberations  seems  to 
prove  that,  while  all  our  industries  are  disor- 
ganized, there  is  still  one  which  lasts  and  flourishes, 
the  industry  of  those  worthies  who  make  a  trade 
of  overturning  governments,  as  highwaymen  might 
stop  a  coach  at  the  corner  of  a  wood,  and  lay  hold 
of  the  sovereignty  of  thirty  millions  of  men  in  two 
hours.  In  this  situation,  and  since  we  have  been 
nominated  here,  I  admit  that  something  like  fear 
has  taken  hold  of  my  mind." 

M.  de  Boisboissel  also  exclaimed, — 

"  If  you  want  us  to  go  to  Paris,  at  least  disarm 
the  faubourgs." 

In  every  speech  this  fear  of  Paris,  or,  as  the 
speakers  put  it,  of  the  revolutionary  idea,  is  evident. 
Paris  was  not  to  be  the  capital  of  the  Republic, 


THE   ASSEMBLY   AT   BORDEAUX.  Ill 

therefore  it  was  that  they  would  none  of  Paris. 
'No  one  said  what  would  have  been  true,  that 
Paris  was,  just  then,  in  a  state  of  violent  excite- 
ment, easy  to  explain,  but  undeniably  threaten- 
ing ;  and  that  if  there  were  indeed  some  danger 
for  the  Assembly  it  arose  from  present  circum- 
stances, and  would  disappear  with  them. 

All  this  was  in  M.  Thiers'  mind.  He  was 
satisfied  with  a  provisional  sojourn  outside  of 
Paris,  but  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  at  Saint 
Cloud  or  Versailles.  He  would  have  preferred 
Saint  Cloud,  had  there  been  suitable  accommoda- 
tion, but  the  château  was  destroyed,  and  the 
village  in  ruins.  Even  though  fearing  an  in- 
surrection he  would  have  accepted  Paris,  had 
he  not  despaired  of  the  vote  of  the  Assembly. 
He  did  not  go  so  far  as  M.  Louis  Blanc,  who 
believed  that  the  sojourn  of  the  Assembly  at 
Versailles  would  be  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the 
insurrection,  nor  did  he  think  that  the  presence  of 
the  Assembly  in  Paris  would  prevent  it.  And  yet, 
such  a  proof  of  confidence  in  the  capital  at  such 
a  moment  might  have  allayed  the  tumult  of  the 
public  mind.  The  Government,  supported  by  the 
Assembly,  present  like  itself  at  the  post  of 
danger,  would  have  gained  in  strength.  If  the 
Assembly  had  been  Republican,  there  would  not 
have  been  no    hesitation.     In    any  case,   an  ad- 


112  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

journment  for  a  short  time  might  be  explained 
by  the  circumstances,  but  a  set  purpose  not  to 
re-enter  Paris  could  only  be  explained  by  a  set 
purpose  to  overthrow  the  Republic. 

No  doubt  the  Monarchists  were  afraid,  but 
their  fear  arose  from  their  own  intentions.  It 
would  never  have  been  easy  for  an  Assembly  sitting 
in  Paris  to  announce  the  substitution  of  Monarchy 
for  the  Republic.  Napoleon  himself,  when  he  con- 
templated the  deeds  of  the  18th  Brumaire,  trans- 
ferred the  Council  of  the  Ancients  to  Saint  Cloud, 
with  the  connivance  of  his  brother.  The  Council 
had  a  constitutional  right  to  fix  the  place  of  its 
abode.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  timid,  such  a  right  is 
not  more  satisfactory  than  an  article  of  the 
Constitution  by  which  a  sojourn  at  Versailles 
is  rendered  obligatory.  Prior  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  18th  February,  1875,  an  Assembly  always 
had  power  to  remove  itself  from  Paris.  In  June, 
1848,  when  the  insurrection  seemed  for  a  while 
on  the  point  of  triumphing,  a  blank  order  was 
given  to  the  President,  M.  Senard,  empowering 
him  to  convene  his  colleagues  in  any  city  in 
France  which  he  might  select.  During  M.  Jules 
Simon's  mission  to  Bordeaux,  he  had  a  similar 
blank  order  from  the  Government  of  National 
Defence. 


THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  BORDEAUX.        113 

The  animated  discussion  that  ended  by  making 
Versailles  the  seat  of  Government,  gave  utter- 
ance not  to  the  resentment  of  the  provinces  but  to 
that  of  the  Legitimist  and  Clerical  parties.  The 
large  towns,  and  indeed  all  towns  in  general, 
have  the  Parisian,  because  they  have  the  Repub- 
lican spirit  ;  the  provincial  spirit,  which  is  losing 
ground  day  by  day,  lingers  in  small  towns  where 
there  is  but  little  manufacture,  and  in  country 
places  in  which  curés  and  country  gentlemen  still 
maintain  their  influence.  The  Prussians  had  their 
own  interests  to  serve  by  spreading  these  discus- 
sions between  Parisians  and  rurals.  The  follow- 
ing article  appeared  on  Monday,  the  24th  October, 
1870,  in  the  Nouvelliste  de  Versailles^  the  ofi&cial 
journal  of  the  German  army  : — 

"  There  are  two  nations  in  France,  and  be- 
tween them  a  distinction  should  always  be  made. 
They  are  the  Parisians,  and  the  French  properly 
so  called.  Since  the  great  centralization,  the 
work  of  Richelieu  and  Mazarin,  the  Parisians 
have  always  usurped  dominion  over  true  French- 
men of  the  provinces.  The  Parisians  have 
decided  on  peace  and  war,  monarchy  and  the 
Republic,  liberty  and  despotism  ;  in  short,  as  they 
have  invariably  governed  in  fact,  they  have  treated 
the  inhabitants  of  the  country  as  helots.  The 
administration  has  always  had  its  centre  in  Paris, 

VOL.  I.  I 


Hi  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

and  prefects  were,  so  to  speak,  enforced  upon 
the  provinces  ;  not  one  of  tliose  functionaries 
could  be  nominated,  without  having  gone  through 
a  previous  probation  in  Paris,  so  that  he  should  be 
a  Parisian  by  adoption,  in  default  of  birth. 

"  Thus  it  is  not  in  reality  against  provincial 
France  that  Germany  is  in  arms  at  this  moment. 
The  Departments,  having  up  to  the  present  time 
submitted  almost  involuntarily  to  the  yoke  or  the 
domination  of  the  Parisians,  are  now,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  involved  in  the  consequences  of  a  war 
to  which  Paris,  and  the  Government  chosen  by 
Paris,  have  treated  them  without  their  assent.  Let 
provincial  France  emancipate  herself  from  a  pu- 
pillage which  has  no  longer  anything  to  justify 
it;  let  the  departments  show  the  domineering 
capital  that  henceforth  they  will  not  be  exploited 
by  it,  to  the  detriment  of  their  best  interests." 

The  Nouvelliste  de  Versailles  hardly  stops  short 
of  presenting  the  Prussians  in  the  character  of 
liberators  of  the  French  provinces  from  their 
Parisian  oppressors.  Our  clever  enemies  under- 
stand European  opinion  too  well  not  to  know  that 
to  abase  Paris  was  to  abase  France. 

On  the  10th  March  the  Assembly  decided  that 
its  final  sitting  should  be  held  at  Bordeaux  on  the 
next  day  ;  and  that  they  should  meet  again  at 
Versailles  on  the  27th.     M.  Thiers  had  proposed 


THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  BORDEAUX.        115 

the  16tli,  which  would  have  been  better,  but  he 
did  not  insist. 

The  Assembly  had  sat  seventeen  times,  during 
its  sojourn  at  Bordeaux,  including  its  preliminary- 
meeting.  It  had  verified  the  election,  formed  the 
provisional  Government,  proclaimed  the  deposition 
of  Napoleon  the  Third  and  his  dynasty,  voted  the 
law  on  bills  of  exchange,  appointed  fifteen  commis- 
sions to  report  on  the  political,  financial,  industrial, 
and  military  situation  of  France,  decided  on  Ver- 
sailles as  the  provisional  residence  of  the  Assembly 
and  the  Government;  and,  finally,  ratified  the 
preliminaries  of  peace.  After  all  this  work,  the 
Assembly  took  a  week's  holiday.  Many  of  its 
members,  having  come  direct  to  Bordeaux  from 
the  army  or  from  the  German  prisons,  required  to 
devote  a  few  days  to  their  families  and  their  busi- 
ness. The  week  destined  to  needful  repose  ended 
on  a  sinister  date,  18th  March.  But  before  we 
enter  upon  the  history  of  the  Commune,  we  must 
place  before  our  readers  the  details  of  the  nego- 
tiation and  the  ratification  of  the  preHminaries  of 
peace. 


I  2 


116  THE   GOVEENMENT   OF   M,   THIEES. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    PRELIMINARIES    OF   PEACE. 

During  the  war,  two  opposite  current  of  opinions 
had  been  formed  in  France,  both  equally  violent  ; 
one  for  war  à  outrance,  for  extermination  or  vic- 
tory, the  other  as  strongly  for  peace,  even  at  the 
cost  of  the  severest  sacrifices.  The  Government 
of  Defence,  the  object  of  contradictory  accusa- 
tions on  all  points,  has  been  execrated  by  the  one 
party  for  having  desired  peace,  and  condemned 
by  the  other,  for  having,  as  they  say,  retarded 
that  end,  by  delaying  the  summoning  of  an 
Assembly.  Certain  it  is  that  the  majority  of  the 
Delegates  to  Tours  and  Bordeaux  were  for  war 
à  outrance,  and  that  the  Government  at  Paris 
was  consistently  for  peace.  This  difference  of 
opinion  came  out  strongly  towards  the  end  :  it 
had  been  perceptible  from  the  beginning,  but  had 
not  produced  disagreement  in  action,  because  the 
Prussians  were  manifestly  bent  on  abusing  their 


THE  PKELIMINAEIES  OF  PEACE.       117 

victory.  Paris  was  as  incapable  of  accepting  a 
disgraceful  peace,  as  Bordeaux  would  have  been 
of  refusing  peace  with  honour.  The  efforts  made 
at  Ferriéres  by  M.  Jules  Favre,  and  at  Ver- 
sailles by  M.  Thiers,  to  obtain  an  armistice,  having 
failed,  the  Government  of  Paris  resolved  to  wait 
for  the  assistance  that  Bordeaux  continued  to 
promise,  and  to  hold  out  until  famine  should 
put  an  end  to  the  siege.  To  summon  an  Assembly 
without  an  armistice,  when  one  third  of  France 
was  invaded,  and  to  put  the  guidance  of  armies 
or  the  negotiations  for  peace  into  the  hands  of  a 
body  of  men  thus  irregularly  called  together, 
perhaps  unknown  to  each  other,  and  necessarily 
disturbed  by  the  gravity  of  events  and  their  own 
immense  responsibility,  appeared  to  all  to  be  a 
deepening  of  our  material  and  moral  disorganiza- 
tion, almost  equivalent  to  a  surrender  at  discre- 
tion. On  the  14th  January  an  intimate  friend  of 
M.  Thiers,  knowing  the  siege  was  coming  to  an 
end  because  famine  was  imminent,  wrote  a  private 
letter,  asking  him  if  it  would  not  be  possible, 
considering  the  position  of  the  departments,  to 
summon  an  Assembly  immediately,  reserving  the 
seats  of  those  deputies  whom  Paris  should 
nominate  after  the  siege  was  raised.  "  Thus 
only,"  said  he,  *'  shall  we  have  a  negotiator  of 
peace,  who  will  not,  at  the  same  time,  have  to 


118       THE  GOVERNMENT  OP  M.  THIEKS. 

treat  for  the  surrender  of  the  citadel.  On  the 
day  when  General  Trochu  goes  to  Versailles — and 
that  day  is  not  far  off,  for  we  are  exhausted — 
Bismarck  will  ask  him  for  France."  The  battle 
of  Buzenval  took  place,  and  with  it  came  the 
end. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that,  throughout 
the  enth^e  duration  of  the  siege,  the  Government 
could  take  no  steps  towards  peace,  except  in 
secret.  After  the  31st  October  they  ceased  to 
take  any.  The  population  wished  for  war,  and 
still  hoped  for  victory.  Every  man  had  enrolled 
himself  in  the  National  Guard,  and  enlistments 
in  the  regiments  were  already  more  than  suf- 
ficiently numerous.  These  improvised  soldiers 
asked  no  better  than  to  be  immediately  drilled, 
and  sent  to  the  advanced  posts,  and  out  in  sorties. 
They  were  full  of  the  idea  that  the  National  Guard 
would  beat  the  Prussian  army.  Their  only  fear 
was  lest  the  Government  should  parley  with  the 
besiegers.  When  M.  Jules  Favre  went  to  Ferrieres 
he  concealed  his  departure  from  the  people,  and 
also  from  several  members  of  the  Government. 
WTien  his  report  was  published  a  few  days  after- 
wards, it  was  received  with  general  applause,  not 
so  much  because  it  exhibited  the  admirable  courage 
of  the  negotiator,  although  that  was  fully  recog- 
nized,   as   because   it   furnished   fresh   causes  of 


THE    rHELIMINAKIES    OF    PEACE.  119 

complaint  against  the  Prussians,  and  new  motives 
for  a  continued  resistance.  The  fatal  events  of 
the  31st  of  October  took  place  to  the  cry  of  "  No 
Armistice  !"  It  was  in  fact  the  rising  of  that  day 
which  rendered  the  armistice  impossible  ;  but  that 
was  its  only  success.  The  same  ringleaders  brought 
about  the  scenes  of  the  22nd  January  for  the  same 
motives.  On  the  31st  of  October  at  least  hope  was 
still  left;  there  were  provisions  in  the  city,  and 
succour  had  been  promised.  It  was  a  crime  to 
select  that  date  for  an  explosion  of  hatred  towards 
the  bourgeoisie,  and  it  was  madness  to  plan  the 
substitution  of  M.  Gustave  Flourens  for  General 
Trochu.  But  when  the  rising  of  the  22nd  January 
took  place,  we  had  no  bread  left,  we  had  no 
succour  to  hope  for,  we  could  no  longer  deceive 
ourselves,  after  the  experience  of  Buzenval, 
as  to  military  resources  ;  nevertheless  the  Govern- 
ment were  seriously  threatened.  Once  more  M. 
Jules  Favre  was  obUged  to  hide  himself  like  a 
thief  in  order  to  accomplish  the  most  painful 
task  that  could  be  imposed  upon  a  patriot.  The 
populace  howled  with  rage  at  the  shghtest  rumour 
of  a  negotiation,  and  yet  they  were  all  threat- 
ened with  speedy  death  by  hunger  !  "  No,  no  !  " 
they  cried  ;  there  was  plenty  of  provisions,  but 
they  were  hidden  so  that  the  people  might  be 
starved  into  a  surrender  !     An  officer  wrote  in  a 


120  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS, 

newspaper,  "You  have  provisions  for  six  months  !'* 
True,  they  had  been  beaten  at  Buzenval,  but  that 
was  the  fault  of  the  generals.  The  sortie  had  not 
been  genuinely  "  torrential  !  "  The  revolutionary 
newspapers  declared  every  morning  that  when  an 
entire  people  moves  it  is  irresistible.  Six  weeks 
later,  at  Bordeaux,  when  M.  Thiers  brought  down 
the  preliminaries  of  peace  to  the  sitting  of  the 
10th  of  March,  he  had  to  repeat  over  and  over 
again  to  the  bellicose  members  who  would  not 
listen  to  them,  "  But  the  means  !  the  means  !  " 
"  The  means,"  answered  intelligent,  well-informed 
men  (see  official  report),  "  the  means  !  You  shall 
be  taught  it  if  you  do  not  know  it  already.  A 
levee  en  7nasse  !  Let  the  750  deputies  place  them- 
selves at  the  head  of  the  nation  in  arms,  and  we 
shall  utterly  destroy  the  enemy."  This  was  said 
on  the  10th  of  March  by  members  of  the  Assembly, 
after  more  than  a  month's  reflection,  and  with  the 
condition  of  our  troops  and  their  equipments  under 
their  eyes.  AYas  it  surprising  that  in  Paris,  when 
the  blow  fell  that  shook  the  reason  of  the  strongest, 
when  it  became  evident  that  the  Government  was 
making  terms,  a  cry  should  have  rung  through 
the  great  city,  decimated  by  pestilence  and  cannon, 
"  We  are  betraved  !  " 

1/ 

This  cry  found  its  echo  in  the  provinces.     It  is 
one  of  the  grossest  instances  of  injustice  on  record. 


THE    PKELIMINAEIES    OF    PEACE.  121 

It  was  allowed  that  the  population  had  immor- 
talized themselves;  but  many  added  that  the 
Government  had  betrayed  France  by  capitulating. 
The  most  moderate  accused  them  of  incapacity 
and  weakness.  There  was  great  astonishment  at 
the  fall  of  Paris,  the  really  astonishing  thing  was 
that  it  had  not  occurred  three  months  earlier.  This 
incapable  Government  had  put  the  fortifications 
into  a  state  of  defence,  raised  an  army  which,  im- 
provised though  it  was,  and  necessarily  lacking  the 
steadiness  of  veteran  troops,  performed  garrison 
duty  perfectly,  and  displayed  both  dash  and  cou- 
rage when  under  the  enemy's  fire  ;  eked  out  the 
provisions  beyond  all  hope;  made  head  against 
two  revolts;  had  not  spilt  one  drop  of  blood, 
ordered  one  arrest,  or  committed  one  single  act 
of  vengeance  after  the  revolution  of  the  4th  Sep- 
tember, and,  for  the  space  of  five  months,  had 
kept  order  in  Paris.  The  capital  had  neither 
surrendered  nor  been  taken  ;  it  had  been  starved 
out.  The  Government  had  so  prolonged  the 
resistance,  that  no  time  was  left  for  negotiation. 
All  the  public  stores  were  empty,  the  roads  were 
blocked  up,  and  the  enemy  knew  it  !  The  delay 
of  a  day  or  two  might  give  rise  to  one  of  the 
most  frightful  famines  on  record.  The  conditions 
of  the  armistice  were  less  hard  than  might  have 
been    feared   under   such   circumstances,   and   it 


122  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

is  paltering  with  the  trutli  to  deny  the  men  of 
those  conditions  to  M.  Jules  Favre. 

It  would  not  be  less  unjust  to  deny  that  tne 
Government  did  good  service  to  France,  by 
causing  the  elections  to  take  place  with  perfect 
freedom,  and  such  promptitude,  that  the  Assembly 
was  able  to  hold  its  first  sitting  fourteen  days  after 
the  date  of  thedecree  of  convocation.  Once  called 
together,  the  principal  mission  of  this  Assembly — 
some  said,  its  sole  mission — was  to  deliberate 
upon  peace  or  war.  It  had  only  twelve  days  in 
which  to  decide  upon  a  course  of  action;  the 
armistice  expired  on  the  22nd  of  February. 

Peace  had  its  adversaries  in  the  Assembly.  The 
number  of  them  107,  is  known.  Doubtless,  there 
were  sincere  men  among  them  who,  believing  that 
France  could  still  fight  with  some  chance  of  suc- 
cess, looked  upon  the  treaty  of  peace  as  cowardice 
and  treason.  There  were  also  deputies  from 
Alsace  and  Lorraine,  who  could  not  bring  them- 
selves to  understand  the  truth,  or  perhaps  could 
not  admit  to  themselves  that  they  did  understand 
it.  M.  Thiers  used  a  terrible  phrase  in  speaking 
of  a  third  class  of  peace  partisans  as  "  those  who 
came  to  court  a  false  popularity  in  the  tribune  at 
the  risk  of  destroying  their  country."  France 
could  certainly  fight  still,  but  she  could  no  longer 
conquer.      We  had  been  beaten,  one  might  say 


THE    PRELIMINARIES    OP    PEACE.  123 

crushed,  in  the  war  which  had  just  ended  ;  how 
could  we  rationally  hope  for  victory  in  a  renewed 
struggle  when  we  had  lost  thirty-one  depart- 
ments, Strasburg,  Metz,  Paris,  some  of  our 
generals,  and  420,000  men  now  prisoners  in  Ger- 
many, without  reckoning  those  dead  on  the  field 
of  battle  ?  The  war  party  reasoned  that  200,000 
men  still  remained  to  us.  Of  what  troops?  and 
with  what  oflQcers  ?  According  to  them,  we  still 
had  plenty  of  war  material.  Who  would  venture 
to  compare  what  was  left  in  our  arsenals,  and  in 
our  camps,  with  the  immense  resources  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  500,000  disciplined  men,  used  to 
war  and  well  commanded,  whom  she  could  im- 
mediately array  against  us  ?  A  levee  en  masse 
was  talked  of  ;  but  a  multitude  is  not  an  army. 
Men  who  can  neither  march,  nor  fire,  who  cannot 
stand  fire,  nor  endure  fatigue  and  privation,  are  a 
weakness,  not  a  force.  The  levée  en  masse  took 
place;  the  experiment  was  complete  !  With  ad- 
mirable vigour,  M.  Gambetta  had  drawn  from  the 
nation  all  it  would  and  could  give.  The  Revolu- 
tion, it  was  said,  had  subdued  the  world  by  the 
levée  en  masse.  The  Revolution  began  with  vic- 
tories, because  it  had  at  its  disposal  the  veteran 
French  army,  disciplined  and  trained  to  war,  and 
commanded  by  Dumouriez.  When  it  sent  raw 
recruits,    commanded    by   second-hand   generals, 


124  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIEES. 

against  Europe,  it  underwent  a  series  of  reverses 
which  brought  the  country  within  a  hair's-breadth 
of  ruin.  And  yet  the  science  of  war  was  far  from 
the  perfection  to  which  the  genius  of  Napoleon 
brought  it  some  years  after.  In  these  days,  rail- 
ways, and  the  transformation  in  weapons,  give 
power,  against  which  mere  superiority  of  numbers 
can  do  nothing,  to  a  well-commanded  army,  well 
supplied  with  war  material.  At  the  beginning 
of  February,  1871,  the  Germans  had  the  supe- 
riority over  us  in  numbers,  in  generalship,  in 
supplies  of  war  material,  and  in  money.  They 
had  also  the  moral  force  lent  by  six  months  of 
unheard-of  success.  A  prolonged  war  would  in- 
deed have  been  terrible  for  them;  but  for  us,  fatal. 
By  treating  for  peace,  France  might  be  sure  of 
rising  again,  one  day,  as  Prussia  itself  had  arisen, 
sixty  years  after  Jena  ;  by  continuing  the  war,  she 
would  condemn  herself  to  the  fate  of  Poland. 
Was  there  any  hope  that  Europe  would  intervene 
to  save  us  ?  Had  Europe  interfered  after  the  4th 
of  September  ?  During  the  course  of  the  nego- 
tiations, it  was  easy  to  measure  the  extent  of  the 
help  in  store  for  us  from  European  diplomacy. 
Every  one  pitied  us,  and  every  one  let  us  be 
butchered.  In  Russia,  the  people  were  for  us;  the 
Czar  was  for  his  uncle  the  Emperor  of  Germany. 
He  recommended  moderation  to  the  conqueror; 


THE    PEELIMINAHIES    OP    PEACE.  125 

but  he  informed  Austria,  whose  sympathies  we 
had  gained,  that  if  she  ranged  herself  on  the  side 
of  France,  he  would  take  the  side  of  Prussia. 
Italy,  whom  so  many  reasons  should  have  attached 
to  us,  was  already  afraid  of  the  strength  of  the 
clerical  party  in  the  Assembly,  and  conceived  that 
if  this  party,  doubly  blind,  should  attain  power, 
our  armies  would  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Pope.  Spain,  sympathizing  indeed,  but  a  prey 
to  internal  divisions,  was  powerless  to  help  us. 
England,  as  impolitic  as  the  French  Government 
after  Sadowa,  gave  us  nothing  but  moral  support, 
and  that  at  the  close  of  the  negotiations,  when 
it  could  avail  only  to  irritate  Count  Bismarck, 
without  serving  us. 

In  our  position  patriotism  counselled,  nay, 
commanded  us  to  submit  to  peace.  A  dis- 
honourable peace,  a  shameful  peace  was  talked  of; 
the  resistance  of  Paris,  and  the  glorious  struggle 
of  the  provinces  were  a  sufficient  answer  ;  honour 
was  more  than  life.  Doubtless,  if  we  had  been 
obliged  to  sacrifice  the  future  of  France  in  order 
to  obtain  peace,  it  would  have  been  better  to  die 
fighting.  If,  however,  by  accepting  all  these 
calamities  for  the  present  generation,  we  might 
safely  count  upon  the  future,  true  honour  con- 
sisted in  submitting  to  a  disaster  which  had 
been    organized    by   the  Empire   with    its    own 


126  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIEES, 

hands.  The  one  absorbing  anxiety  of  thinking 
men,  of  true  patriots,  was  this  :  to  secure  a  to- 
morrow ! 

"What  would  Prussia  demand?  She  would 
claim  an  enormous  war-indemnity,  perhaps  a 
reduction  of  our  effective  force  and  our  fortresses, 
certainly  a  cession  of  territory.  "We  could  not 
deceive  ourselves  upon  the  last  point.  Even 
before  the  war,  it  was  known  that  Prussia  was 
threatening  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  At  the  Tuileries 
the  menace  was  ridiculed.  When  General  Ducrot, 
who  commanded  at  Strasburg,  warned  the  Imperial 
Government  of  the  designs  which  were  entertained 
at  Berlin,  and  the  preparation  for  a  campaign  of 
invasion,  they  laughed  at  the  warning  !  Germany 
avowed  her  pretensions  openly  after  our  earliest 
disasters.  Europe  was  silent  ;  a  circumstance  to 
be  noted.  The  day  after  Sedan,  Count  Bismarck 
said  to  General  de  Wimpffen,  who  had  taken  the 
command  at  the  last  moment,  "  We  have  had 
enough  of  this.  France  must  be  chastised  for  her 
pride,  and  her  aggressive  and  ambitious  temper. 
We  intend  at  last  to  make  sure  of  our  children's 
safety,  and,  for  that,  we  must  have  a  glacis 
between  France  and  us  ;  we  must  have  land,  fort- 
resses and  frontiers  which  will  place  us,  for  ever, 
beyond  all  risk  of  attack  on  her  part." 

A  few  days  later,  the  interview  at  Ferrières  took 


THE  PEELIMINARIES  OF  PEACE.       127 

place.  During  the  conversation  between  Count 
Bismarck  and  M.  Jules  Favre,  the  Chancellor 
said,  "You  declared  war  against  us  without  a 
cause,  and  with  the  sole  intention  of  taking  a 
portion  of  our  territory.  Germany,  which  did 
not  seek  this  opportunity,  has  made  use  of  it  for 
her  own  security,  which  can  only  be  guaranteed 
by  a  cession  of  territory.  Strasburg  is  a  perpetual 
threat  to  us.  It  is  the  key  of  the  house,  and  we 
want  to  have  it." 

M.  Jules  Favre  replied,  "  Then,  that  means 
Alsace  and  Lorraine  ?" 

The  Count  answered,  "  I  have  not  spoken  of 
Lorraine.  But  as  for  Alsace,  I  speak  point 
blank.  We  look  upon  it  as  absolutely  necessary 
^or  our  defence." 

At  another  point  in  this  same  interview 
Count  Bismarck  did  sneak  of  Lorraine.  He 
expressly  states  this  in  a  letter  written  by  him  at 
Ferrieres,  on  the  24th  of  September,  to  rectify 
certain  assertions  contained  in  M.  Jules  Favre' s 
report,  and  which  was  published  in  German  in  the 
"  North  German  Correspondent." 

"  I  expressly  declared  to  M.  Jules  Favre,"  writes 
the  Count,  "  that  I  refused  to  enter  upon  the 
subject  of  the  new  frontier  demanded  by  us,  until 
the  principle  of  a  cession  of  territory  had  been 
openly  recognized  by  France.     As  a  consequence 


128  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

of  this  declaration,  the  formation  of  a  new 
department  of  the  Moselle,  containing  the  districts 
of  Strasburg,  Château-Salins,  Sarraguemines, 
Metz,  and  Thionville,  was  mentioned  by  me,  as  an 
arrangement  suitable  to  our  intentions.  .  .  ." 

M.  Jules  Favre,  in  his  turn,  rectifies  Count 
Bismarck's  rectifications,  in  a  circular  addressed 
to  the  representatives  of  France  in  foreign  lands, 
recapitulating  this  important  part  of  the  con- 
ference thus  : — 

"  I  have  allowed  that  upon  this  subject  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Confederation  of  the  North  had, 
at  first,  met  me  with  a  sort  of  put-off,  drawn 
from  my  positive  declaration  that  I  would  not 
consent  to  any  cession  of  territory;  but  my  in- 
terlocutor cannot  have  forgotten  that,  upon  my 
insisting,  he  explained  himself  categorically,  and 
mentioned,  in  case  the  principle  of  the  cession 
of  territory  should  be  admitted,  those  conditions 
which  I  have  enumerated  in  my  report,  i.  e.  the 
relinquishment  by  France  of  Strasburg,  with  the 
whole  of  Alsace,  Metz,  and  part  of  Lorraine." 

Germany's  intentions  were  so  well  known  to 
every  one  in  France,  that  M.  ]\Iicliel  Chevalier 
spoke  of  them,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Gladstone  on 
the  12th  of  September,  thus  :  "  The  conquest 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  by  Prussia  is  simply  a 
whim.       Nancy   is  as  French  as  Paris,  and    the 


THE    PEELIMINARIES    OP    PEACE.  129 

two  chief  towns  of  Alsace,  Strasbur^  and  Miil- 
hoLise,  are  nearly  as  mucli  so.  Germany  has  no 
interest  in  incorporating  Alsace  and  Lorraine  with 
herself  ;  they  are  outside  of  her  topography  and 
her  hydrography." 

Moreover,  a  striking  and  significant  fact  was 
to  be  remarked  prior  to  the  conclusion  of  peace. 
When  the  Germans  invaded  a  district  which  they 
wanted  to  keep,  they  established  German  institu- 
tions there,  at  once  ;  when,  on  the  contrary, 
their  occupation  was  only  provisional,  they  ap- 
pointed an  administrator,  who  did  not  disturb 
the  French  institutions.  The  alarm  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Lorraine  was  no  less  vehement  than  that 
of  Alsace.  The  fears  of  both  were  made  known, 
at  Bordeaux,  by  a  declaration  which  M.  Keller 
undertook  to  lay  before  the  Assembly  in  the 
session  of  the  1 7th  February,  a  few  hours  before 
the  vote  was  taken  that  entrusted  the  Government 
of  France  to  M.  Thiers.  It  was  signed  by  all  the 
Deputies  from  Lower  Rhine,  Upper  Rhine,  and 
the  departments  of  the  Moselle  and  the  Meurthe, 
to  the  number  of  thirty-five.  "  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  refuse  to  be  alienated.  With  one  voice, 
the  citizens  at  their  firesides,  the  soldiers  under 
arms,  the  former  by  voting,  the  latter  by  fighting, 
proclaim  to  Germany  and  to  the  world  at  large, 
the   immutable   will   of   Alsace  and  Lorraine   to 

VOL.  I.  K 


130  THE    GOVEKNMENT   OP   M.    THIEES. 

remain  French.  France  can  neither  consent  to 
nor  sign  the  cession  of  Lorraine  and  Alsace, 
without  perilling  the  continuity  of  her  national 
existence,  and  dealing  a  death-blow  to  her  unity 
with  her  own  hands." 

The  Assembly  heard  this  document  read  with 
keen  emotion.  Great  things  were  to  be  done  that 
day,  the  Assembly  had  to  constitute  the  Govern- 
ment. It  was  suggested  that  the  consideration 
of  M.  Keller's  proposition  should  be  deferred  until 
the  following  day,  but  M.  Thiers  insisted  upon  its 
being  discussed  at  once. 

"  The  Assembly  ought  to  understand,"  he  said, 
"  that,  in  so  grave  a  matter,  we  must  act  like 
thoughtful  men. 

"  Let  us  not  be  carried  away  by  empty  words  ; 
we  must  know  what  we  mean  to  put  behind  our 
words. 

*'  One  thing  alone  is  worthy  of  you,  worthy  of 
France,  worthy  of  true  patriotism  ;  it  is  that  you 
declare  yourselves  at  once,  so  that  jour  will  may 
be  made  known.  To  put  this  off  to  to-morrow 
would  be  puerile.  Be  assured  of  this,  you  cannot 
screen  yourselves  behind  any  Government  which 
you  may  institute.  Have  the  courage  of  your 
opinion  ;  either  war,  or  peace. 

"  I  promise  you,  if  I  can  influence  your  fate, 
to  devote,  as  others  do,  my  energies  to  the  service 


THE   PBELIMINAEIES    OP   PEACE.  131 

of  our  country  so  long  as  I  can  be  useful  to 
lier;  but  I  could  not — I  tell  you  this  at 
once — accept  a  mission  tliat,  as  an  honourable 
man  and  a  good  citizen,  I  should  be  unable  to 
carry  out." 

An  hour  after,  M.  Beulé,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed reporter  during  the  interruption  of  the 
sitting,  moved  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
carried  by  a  vast  majority  : — 

"  The  J^ational  Assembly,  having  received  the 
declaration  of  M.  Keller  and  his  colleagues  with 
the  greatest  sympathy,  refers  it  to  the  wisdom 
and  patriotism  of  the  negotiators." 

Thus  the  negotiators  were  given  full  powers. 
The  nomination  of  M.  Thiers  as  Chief  of  the 
Executive  took  place  immediately  afterwards. 
That  night  and  the  next  day  were  occupied  by 
him  in  forming  his  cabinet.  On  Sunday,  the  1 9th, 
he  was  able  to  give  the  Assembly  a  list  of  the  new 
ministry,  and  to  lay  down  his  programme.  On  the 
same  evening  he  set  out  with  M.  Jules  Simon  for 
Paris;  and  went  to  Versailles  alone,  according  to 
his  own  desire,  very  early  on  Tuesday  morning,  the 
21st.  On  his  arrival  there  an  unforeseen  difficulty 
presented  itself. 

The  Assembly  had  appointed  a  committee  of 
fifteen,  who  were  to  proceed  to  Paris  in  order  to 
assist  the    negotiators  with    their   presence    and 

K  2 


132       THE  GOVERNMENT  OP  M.  THIEES. 

advice,  witliout,  however,  sharing  their  respon- 
sibility. This  measure  was  also  taken  for  the 
purpose  of  diminishing  as  far  as  possible  the  in- 
convenience arising  from  the  seat  of  the  Assembly 
being  at  Bordeaux,  while  the  conditions  of  peace 
w^ere  under  discussion  at  Versailles.  The  commis- 
sioners got  M.  de  Chaudordy  to  apply  in  London 
for  a  safe  conduct  ;  a  needless  precaution,  which 
retarded  their  journey  by  a  day,  and  irritated  Count 
Bismarck,  who  was  anxious  to  prevent  all  inter- 
vention by  the  neutral  powers.  The  Count  ac- 
quainted M.  Thiers  with  these  details  at  the  outset 
of  the  interview,  and  did  so  with  vehemence  only 
slightly  tempered  with  courtesy  towards  his  illus- 
trious interlocutor.  After  this  unpleasant  incident, 
a  prolongation  of  the  armistice  was  agreed  upon. 
That  evening  M.  Thiers  wrote  to  M.  Jules  Simon, 
"I  have  been  fighting  all  day  with  Count  Bismarck. 
I  have  obtained  a  prolongation  of  the  armistice 
until  midnight  on  Sunday  "  (that  was  Tuesday), 
"  but  had  to  struggle  hard  for  it,  which  shows 
that  our  critical  position  could  not  last  long." 
At  that  time  Count  Bismarck  wanted  to  limit 
the  negotiators  to  a  very  short  time,  because 
he  expected  his  proposals  to  be  accepted  as 
an  ultimatum  ;  we  shall  see  that  he  relaxed  this 
rigorous  rule  towards  the  end  of  the  negotiations, 
when  the  principal  bases  had  been  agreed  upon  ; 


THE  PEELIMINAEIES  OF  PEACE.       133 

and  that  lie  tlien  consented,  without  difficulty,  to 
prolong  the  armistice  until  the  12th  March; 
but  on  Tuesday,  21st  February,  the  day  of 
M.  Thiers'  arrival,  he  insisted  that  everything 
should  be  agreed  upon  and  signed  by  the  26th, 
and  obstinately  refused  to  grant  one  more  day. 
That  point  settled,  he  made  known  his  proposals  ; 
France  was  to  pay  an  indemnity  of  six  milliards, 
to  give  up  the  whole  of  Alsace,  including  Belfort, 
Metz  with  its  fortresses,  and  a  considerable  portion 
of  Lorraine  ;  the  Prussians  were  to  enter  Paris, 
and  remain  there  until  the  ratification  of  peace. 

M.  Thiers  protested  against  conditions  which 
he  declared  to  be  not  only  exorbitant,  but  im- 
practicable. Six  milhards  represented  more  than 
twice  the  savings  of  France.  It  was  not  a  war 
indemnity  ;  two  milliards  would  have  been  ample 
to  reimburse  Germany  for  her  expenses  and  her 
material  losses.  Six  milliards  w^ere  demanded 
with  the  evident  design  of  exhausting  the  re- 
sources of  France.  Had  Germany  considered  the 
consequences  to  herself  and  to  the  whole  of  Europe 
of  reducing  a  nation  with  such  a  geographical 
position  as  ours,  and  concerned  in  all  the  com- 
mercial and  financial  operations  of  the  world,  to 
poverty  and  ruin  ?  Had  Germany  weighed  the 
results  of  the  monetary  disturbance  which  would 
infallibly   ensue   from   the    payment   of    such    a 


134  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

sum  ?  Nor  was  the  dismembering  of  France 
more  politic,  or  more  practicable.  The  populations 
would  not  give  themselves  up,  France  could  not 
deliver  them  over;  the  fifteen  commissioners 
would  not  permit  the  discussion  to  be  carried  on 
upon  such  foundations.  It  is  a  dictate  of  wisdom 
that  a  lasting  and  true  peace  should  be  made  after 
war  ;  but  in  this  case  the  two  countries  were  con- 
demned to  perpetual  division.  This  would  not  end 
war,  but  merely  suspend  hostilities,  for  France 
could  never  rest  so  long  as  the  two  provinces 
were  exiled  from  her  breast.  We  could  not,  with- 
out vainglorious  folly,  pretend  that  in  carrying 
on  the  war  we  had  any  hope  of  victory;  but 
Germany  knew  what  it  would  cost  her  to  destroy 
the  last  armies  of  France.  If  we  were  driven  to 
despair,  our  enemies  might  crush  us,  but  we 
would  not  submit  to  degrading  conditions.  M. 
Thiers  was  not  satisfied  with  speaking  thus  to 
Count  Bismarck  only  ;  he  requested  an  audience 
of  the  Emperor.  It  was  granted  reluctantly, 
and  was  very  brief.  The  Emperor  declined  any 
political  discussion.  He  could  not  hinder  M. 
Thiers  from  reminding  him,  in  a  few  ardent 
though  respectful  words,  of  all  the  arguments 
against  this  policy  of  extermination.  In  short, 
M.  Thiers  obtained  nothing  on  the  first  day.  All 
his  genius,  all  his  eloquence,  were  expended  in 


THE   PEELIMINAEIES   OF   PEACE.  135 

vain  upon  an  inflexible  resolution.  He  returned 
to  Versailles  on  the  following  day,  again  unac- 
companied. Having  a  very  high  opinion  of  Count 
Bismarck's  political  capabilities,  he  wished  to  speak 
with  him  privately  in  the  language  of  politics. 
He  hoped  to  prove  to  him  that  the  cession 
of  Metz  would  make  the  two  nations  enemies  for 
ever,  and  that  France,  though  ever  so  willing, 
could  not  pay  six  milliards.  But  he  found  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Empire  more  inflexible  than 
before,  more  inimical  to  every  idea  of  negotiation 
or  arrangement.  Count  Bismarck  asserted  that 
in  Germany,  "  the  most  thinking  men  "  estimated 
the  losses  sustained  by  the  country  at  fifteen  mil- 
liards. He  was  universally  taxed  with  weakness 
for  having  demanded  only  six.  He  was  even  on 
the  point  of  refusing  all  further  conversation, 
alleging  that  his  proposals  constituted  an  ulti- 
matum requiring  a  simple  yes  or  no  in  answer. 

M.  Thiers  replied  that  an  armistice  had  been 
concluded  ;  that  in  virtue  of  the  very  terms  of 
that  agreement,  an  Assembly  had  been  summoned 
to  deliberate  upon  peace  or  war  ;  that  he  had 
come  in  the  name  of  that  Assembly,  and  conse- 
quently in  the  name  of  all  France,  on  the  strength 
of  a  convention  signed  by  Count  Bismarck,  on  the 
faith  of  a  treaty,  in  the  character  of  a  negotiator, 
having  a  right  to  be  heard,  and  not  as  the  envoy 


136  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

of  an  army  wlaich  has  surrendered  at  discretion, 
and  has  only  to  receive  the  orders  of  the  con- 
queror. Count  Bismarck  was  sHghtly  confused  at 
having  given  way  to  a  fit  of  passion,  so  insulting 
to  us,  and  so  httle  worthy  of  him.  He  resumed 
the  conversation,  but  did  not  yield  an  inch  of 
ground.  He  even  announced  to  M.  Thiers  that 
he  was  benevolently  exerting  himself  to  facilitate 
our  payment  of  the  six  milliards,  and  that  he 
had  found  two  financiers  who  were  disposed  to 
undertake  the  operation  by  sure  and  easy  means. 
"You  will  pay,"  said  he,  "without  perceiving  it.'* 
M.  Thiers  returned  to  Paris,  believing  that  he 
had  gained  nothing. 

Next  day  (Thursday,  February  23rd)  the 
aforesaid  bankers  presented  themselves.  Count 
Bismarck  had  good  reason  to  boast  of  their  skill 
and  importance  ;  they  were  no  less  personages 
than  Count  Heukel  and  Herr  Black- Schroder, 
the  two  chief  bankers  in  Germany.  M.  Thiers 
would  not  listen  to  them  except  in  the  presence  of 
the  commissioners.  Their  system  was  ingenious 
enough  ;  it  would  have  given  us,  or  rather  sold 
us,  time,  and  it  resolved  itself  into  the  doubling 
of  our  indemnity.  They  argued  at  great  length, 
but  of  course  our  commissioners  were  no  more 
tempted  to  accept  their  proposals  than  was  M. 
Thiers;   they    submitted  to  this   interview  as  he 


THE    PEELIMTNARIES    OF    PEACE.  137 

did,  as  an  additional  trial;  and  were  resolved 
beforehand  to  trust  to  France  for  rescue  from 
our  embarrassments,  and  not  to  the  interested 
expertness  of  our  enemies. 

After  this  interview,  which  took  place  in  the 
morning,  M.  Thiers  returned  to  Versailles,  ac- 
companied by  M.  Jules  Favre,  who  left  him  no 
more  until  the  negotiations  were  concluded.  They 
were  immediately  informed  by  Count  Bismarck 
that  the  Emperor  had  consented  to  reduce  the 
indemnity  by  one  milliard.  All  the  entreaties,  all 
the  arguments  of  the  negotiators  to  obtain  a  more 
equitable  and  less  overwhelming  assessment,  were 
unavailing.  It  was  agreed,  in  order  to  save  time, 
that  a  preliminary  treaty  should  be  made,  defin- 
ing the  bases  of  peace  only  ;  but  tha.t  the  stipula- 
tions in  detail  should  be  reserved  for  an  ulterior 
treaty.  Thus,  during  those  three  days,  Thursday, 
Friday  and  Saturday,  the  discussion  was  confined 
to  the  amount  of  the  indemnity,  the  mode  and 
dates  of  payment  to  correspond  with  the  successive 
evacuation  of  the  territory  by  the  German  troops, 
the  territorial  concessions,  and  the  entry  of  the 
Prussians  into  Paris.  M.  Thiers'  great  achieve- 
ment was  his  obtaining  that  Belfort  should  be 
left  to  France.  He  won  this  success,  so  to  speak, 
by  main  force.  M.  Jules  Favre  has  described 
this  incident  with  so  much  passion  and  energy, 


138  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

that  we  feel  bound  to  place  his  narrative  before 
our  readers. 

"I  see  liim  still,"  says  M.  Jules  Favre,  "  pale, 
agitated,  now  sitting,  now  standing  ;  I  hear  his 
voice,  broken  by  grief,  his  faltering  words,  his 
accents  at  once  beseeching  and  proud,  and  I 
know  nothing  grander  than  the  sublime  passion 
of  that  noble  heart,  breaking  out  into  lamentation, 
menace,  and  entreaty. 

"  When,  with  his  own  inimitable  eloquence,  he 
had  set  forth  the  immensity  of  our  sacrifices, 
the  unexampled  rigour  that  imposed  an  over- 
whelming indemnity  on  us,  in  addition  to  the 
mutilation  of  our  territory,  upon  the  ancient 
ties  that  bound  us  to  a  town  which  had  never 
belonged  to  Germany  and  had  nothing  Germanic 
about  it,  seeing  the  inflexibility  of  his  hearer,  he 
cried  out,  '  Well  then  !  let  it  be  as  you  will 
Count  !  These  negotiations  are  nothing  but  a 
sham.  We  appear  to  be  discussing,  but  we  are 
merely  to  pass  under  your  yoke.  We  ask  of  you  a 
city  which  is  altogether  French  ;  you  refuse  :  this 
is  to  admit  that  you  have  determined  upon  a  war  of 
extermination.  Make  that  war  then  !  Ravage  our 
provinces,  burn  our  houses,  slaughter  the  inoffen- 
sive inhabitants  ;  in  a  word,  complete  your  work. 
We  will  fight  you  until  our  last  breath.  We  may  be 
defeated,  but  at  least  we  shall  not  be  dishonoured  1  * 


THE   PEELIMINAEIES   OF   PEACE.  139 

"Count  Bismarck  seemed  moved.  M.  Thiers* 
emotion  had  touched  liim;  he  repHed  that  he 
understood  what  M.  Thiers  must  be  suffering,  and 
that  he  would  be  glad  to  be  able  to  make  a  con- 
cession. *  But,'  he  added,  '  it  would  be  wrong  of 
me  to  promise  what  I  cannot  grant.  The  King 
has  commanded  me  to  keep  to  our  conditions  ;  he 
alone  has  the  right  to  modify  them.  I  must  take 
his  orders.  I  must  also  confer  with  General 
Moltke.  If  I  have  his  consent,  I  shall  be  stronger.' 
He  then  left  the  room. 

"  In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  he  came  back.  The 
King  was  out  walking  and  would  not  return  until 
dinner-time,  General  Moltke  was  also  out.  Our 
suspense  may  be  imagined.  It  was  at  its  height 
when,  about  half  an  hour  after,  General  Moltke 
was  announced.  We  did  not  see  him;  Count 
Bismarck  shut  himself  up  with  him." 

"I  think  no  accused  man  ever  waited  for  a 
verdict  in  more  feverish  agony  of  mind.  Motion- 
less and  mute,  we  followed  with  scared  eyes  the 
hands  of  the  clock  that  was  about  to  strike  the 
hour  of  our  sentence.  The  door  opened  at  last, 
and,  standing  on  the  threshold,  Count  Bismarck 
spoke  :  *  I  was  commanded  by  the  King  to  insist 
upon  the  entry  of  our  troops  into  Paris.  You 
have  expressed  to  me  your  repugnance  and  your 
fears,  and  earnestly  requested  that  this  clause  may 


140  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

be  mthdrawn.  We  will  give  it  up  if,  on  your  side, 
you  will  leave  us  Belfort.' 

"  '  Nothing,'  replied  M.  Thiers,  '  can  equal 
the  grief  which  Paris  must  feel  in  opening  the 
gates  of  its  unconquered  walls  to  the  enemy  who 
has  been  unable  to  force  them.  Therefore  we 
have  besought  you,  and  do  still  beseech  you,  not 
to  inflict  this  unmerited  humiliation  upon  the 
city.  Nevertheless  it  is  ready  to  drink  the  cup  to 
the  dregs,  so  that  one  bit  of  its  soil  and  an  heroic 
city  may  be  preserved  to  the  country.  We  thank 
you.  Count,  for  having  afforded  Paris  the  oppor- 
tunity of  ennobling  its  sacrifice.  The  mourning  of 
Paris  shall  be  the  ransom  of  Belfort,  which  we 
nowpersist,  more  than  ever,in  claiming.'  'E-eflect,' 
said  Count  Bismarck  :  '  perhaps  you  will  regret 
having  rejected  this  proposal.'  'We  should  fail 
in  our  duty  if  we  accepted  it,'  replied  M. 
Thiers.  The  door  was  once  more  closed,  and 
the  two  Prussian  statesmen  resumed  their  con- 
ference." 

"  It  seemed  to  us  to  last  an  age  ;  after  General 
Moltke's  departure,  the  Chancellor  informed  us 
that  there  was  only  the  King  to  convince. 
Despite  our  impatience,  we  had  to  wait  until 
the  monarch  had  finished  his  meal  ;  it  was 
nearly  half-past  six,  when  Count  Bismarck  went 
to   him.     At  eight   M.  Thiers  reaped  the   fruits 


THE    PEELIMINARIES   OP   PEACE.  141 

of  his  valiant  effort.  He  liad  given  back  Belfort 
to  France," 

Eightly  to  estimate  the  importance  of  this 
success,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  between 
the  Vosges  hills  and  the  Jura  range,  there  is 
a  deep  hollow  through  which  all  our  invaders 
have  passed  at  every  epoch.  The  fortress  of 
Belfort  was  built  to  command  this  pass.  If 
Belfort  had  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Germans 
they  would  have  had  a  ready-made  road  between 
the  Jura  and  the  Vosges,  by  which  to  penetrate 
into  the  heart  of  France.  After  the  loss  of 
Strasburg  the  possession  of  Belfort  had  become 
indispensable  to  us.  M.  Thiers  fought  for  it 
during  fourteen  hours,  and  while  he  was  making 
this  almost  desperate  struggle,  he,  who  looked 
upon  peace  as  absolutely  necessary,  asked  himself 
several  times  if  it  would  not  be  better  to  go  on 
with  the  war,  than  to  leave  our  eastern  frontier 
open  to  fresh  invasion. 

When,  on  his  return  to  Paris,  M.  Thiers  made 
known  his  unhoped-for  success  to  the  commission, 
all  the  members  expressed  boundless  gratitude  to 
him.  It  was  not  only  a  few  leagues  of  territory  he 
restored  to  us  ;  it  was  an  important  position  upon 
our  frontiers.  Every  evening,  on  returning  from 
Versailles,  M.  Thiers  made  the  commissioners,  who 
were  pledged  to  the  strictest  secrecy,  thoroughly 


142  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

acquainted  with  all  that  had  passed.  He  even 
found  time,  before  taking  a  few  hours'  rest,  to 
write  to  M.  Jules  Simon.  *'  We  made  our  first 
report  to  the  commission  yesterday,"  he  wrote,  on 
the  24th  of  February.  *'  They  did  not  seem  ill- 
pleased.  "We  have  laid  such  stress  upon  secrecy 
that  I  count  a  little  upon  their  observing  it.  The 
ignorance  the  Bourse  is  in  proves  that  the  secret 
is  pretty  well  kept.  In  two  days  we  shall  know 
where  we  are." 

On  the  25th  he  wrote  :  "  Yesterday,  M.  Jules 
Favre  and  I  passed  eight  hours  in  conference 
with  Count  Bismarck.  We  set  out  at  half-past 
eleven  in  the  morning,  and  were  at  Paris  by  ten 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  I  would  France  could  see 
what  we  have  done  to  save  her  from  loss  and  humi- 
liation. The  peace  is  to  be  signed  this  evening, 
and  I  have  asked  myself  twenty  times  whether  we 
shall  have  peace  after  all.  It  is  certainly  not 
so  bad  as  we  might  have  feared,  in  our  position, 
at  the  feet  of  a  conqueror  who  knows  we  can 
expose  France  to  frightful  havoc,  that  we  can 
prolong  a  bloody  and  destructive  struggle,  but 
that  we  cannot  alter  the  ultimate  result.  Do 
not  say  a  word  of  this  to  any  one,  above  all 
about  the  nature  of  the  peace.  It  must  not  be 
subjected  beforehand  to  party  discussion. 

**  If,    as    we  hope,  it  be  signed  this  evening 


THE    PRELIMINARIES   OP   PEACE.  143 

(under  the  form  of  precise  preliminaries),  we  will 
announce  it  to  you  by  telegraph  to-morrow  morn- 
ing. We  shall  leave  on  Monday,  if  we  can,  for 
every  hour  costs  us  millions." 

Peace  was  not  signed  on  Saturday.  On  his 
arrival  at  Versailles  on  that  day,  M.  Thiers  found 
Count  Bismarck  particularly  excited.  His  manner 
of  receiving  M.  Thiers  was  constrained  and  haughty, 
his  language  was  sharp,  all  but  menacing.  He 
accused  M.  Thiers  of  wanting  to  spin  out  the  con- 
ference, and  of  seeking  pretexts  for  recommenc- 
ing the  war.  Our  negotiators  easily  penetrated 
the  secret  of  the  Chancellor's  irritation.  He  had 
been  advised  officially  the  day  before,  that  the 
English  Government  intended  to  make  certain 
representations  to  Germany  concerning  the  amount 
of  the  war  indemnity.  The  Count  went  so  far  as 
to  say,  "  I  see  plainly  your  only  aim  is  to  begin 
the  campaign  again,  and  you  will  have  the  sup- 
port and  advice  of  your  good  friends,  the  English." 
By  testifying  a  desire  that  the  indemnity  should 
be  reduced  to  a  sum,  the  payment  of  which  might 
reasonably  be  expected,  England  gave  us  the  only 
support  we  could  hope  for  from  her  after  all  that 
had  passed;  and,  far  from  thinking  of  begin- 
ning the  war  again,  M.  Thiers  and  M.  Jules  Favre 
were  only  bent  upon  hastening  the  conclusion  of 
peace. 


144  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

Count  Bismarck  liarslily  and  violently  spurned 
our  assurances  of  our  pacific  intentions,  which  at 
that  stage  of  the  business  he  could  not  have 
doubted  had  he  been  calm  and  collected.  "  It  is 
very  good  of  me,"  he  said  roughly,  "  to  take  the 
trouble  you  condemn  me  to  ;  our  conditions  are 
an  ultimatum  ;  you  must  either  accept  or  reject 
them.  I  will  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  it  ; 
bring  an  interpreter  to-morrow;  henceforth  I  will 
not  speak  French."  And,  in  fact,  he  began  to 
talk  in  German  with  extreme  vehemence. 

M.  Thiers  showed  that  he  was  offended,  but 
without  departing  an  instant  from  his  dignity  and 
composure.  This  stormy  and  cruel  day  was  but 
so  much  time  lost,  after  all.  Count  Bismarck 
eagerly  insisted  upon  our  accepting  his  two 
bankers,  and  his  system  of  payments  and  financial 
operations  ;  M.  Thiers  persisted  in  his  refusal. 
When  they  separated  for  the  evening  at  ten  o'clock, 
everything  remained  as  agreed  upon  in  the  terms 
accepted  on  the  preceding  days.  There  only 
remained  the  transcription  and  signature  of  the 
agreements.  It  was  decided  that  the  signatures 
on  both  sides  should  be  affixed  the  next  day, 
Sunday,  February  26th,  at  half-past  one  o'clock. 
Our  negotiators  arrived  punctually  at  the  place  of 
meeting  ;  but  they  had  to  wait  three  hours  before 
the  documents  were  ready.     The  duplicate  copies 


THE   PKELIMINAEIES   OF    PEACE.  145 

being  brought  in  and  compared,  Count  Bismarck 
announced  that  he  was  about  to  summon  "  his 
colleagues  "  of  Bavaria,  Wurtemburg,  and  Baden. 
They  came  in,  heard  the  treaty  read  without  offer- 
ing an  observation,  and  affixed  their  signatures. 
Count  Bismarck  sent  for  a  golden  pen  which  had 
been  presented  to  him  by  the  ladies  of  a  German 
town  for  use  on  this  occasion.  M.  Thiers  and 
M.  Jules  Favre  did  not  exchange  a  word  on  their 
journey  back  to  Paris.  M.  Thiers  had  tears  in 
his  eyes  all  the  way  ;  he  dried  them  in  silence  ; 
he  was  a  prey  to  the  most  terrible  grief  the  heart 
of  a  man  can  feel.  Instantly  on  reaching  the 
Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  he  sent  off  a  telegram 
in  cipher  to  Bordeaux,  as  follows  : — 

"  The  Chief  of  the  Executive  to  M.  Jules  Simon. 

"  Paris,  February  27th,  7  p.m. 

"  The  preliminaries  of  peace  have  been  signed 
to-day,  after  a  long  and  painful  contest.  The 
conditions  are  severe  with  respect  to  money,  but 
as  regards  territory  they  are  less  disadvantageous 
than  was  to  be  feared.  Belfort  and  five-sixths  of 
Lorraine  are  restored  to  us.  The  war  indemnity 
is  five  milliards,  the  payment  to  be  spread  over 
several  years. 

"  As  ib  is  fitting  the  National  Assembly  should 

VOL.  I.  L 


146  THE    GOVEENMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

liave  the  first  knowledge  of  the  conditions,  make 
nothing  pubhc  but  the  fact  that  peace  is  con- 
cluded." 

M.  Thiers  arrived  at  Bordeaux  on  the  28th  of 
February  :  he  immediatelj  entered  the  Assembly, 
which  was  sitting,  and  read  a  bill,  which  com- 
menced with  the  following  words:  "  The  National 
Assembly,  having  to  bear  the  consequences  of 
deeds  of  which  it  is  not  the  author,  ratifies  the 
preliminaries  of  peace,  the  text  of  which  is  hereto 
annexed,  etc."  M.  Barthélémy  Saint-Hilaire  after- 
wards read  the  Articles  of  peace. 

Article  I.  comprises  the  cession  of  territory.  "We 
lose  Alsace,  with  the  exception  of  Belfort  and  its  ter- 
ritory. We  retain  the  whole  of  Lorraine,  with  the 
exception  of  Metz,  its  territory,  and  a  few  villages. 

Article  II.  stipulates  for  the  indemnity  of  five 
milliards.  One  milliard  is  to  be  paid  in  the  course 
of  the  year  1871,  and  the  remainder  of  the  debt 
within  a  period  of  three  years  dating  from  the 
ratification  of  peace. 

Article  III.  regulates  the  details  of  the  evacua- 
tion, which  is  to  take  place  at  three  periods  :  the 
first  to  begin  immediately  after  the  ratification  of 
peace  ;  the  second  after  the  payment  of  the  first 
half  milliard,  and  the  third  after  the  payment  of 
two  milliards.  During  the  third  period,  and  until 
the    complete    liquidation  of  the  debt,  only  the 


THE  TEELIMINAEIES  OF  PEACE.       147 

departments  of  Marne,  Ardennes,  Upper  Marne, 
Meuse,  Vosges,  Meurthe,  Belfort  and  its  territory, 
will  continue  to  be  occupied  by  the  Prussians. 

The  occupation  of  the  interior  of  Paris  and  of 
the  forts  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine  will  cease 
after  the  ratification  of  peace,  that  of  the  fort  on 
the  right  bank  and  of  the  department  of  the  Seine 
after  the  payment  of  the  first  half  milliard. 

The  French  army  is  to  retire  beyond  the  Loire 
until  the  signature  of  the  final  treaty  of  peace, 
leaving  upon  the  left  bank  only  such  garrisons  as 
are  indispensable  for  the  fortresses,  and  40,000 
men  to  form  the  guard  of  Paris.  From  the  date 
of  the  payment  of  two  milliards,  the  army  of  occu- 
pation is  not  to  exceed  50,000  men  in  number. 
The  Emperor  of  Germany  states  that  he  will  be 
disposed  to  accept  a  financial  guarantee  at  the 
same  date,  as  an  equivalent  for  the  guarantee 
resulting  from  the  territorial  occupation. 

Article  IV.  suppresses  all  requisitions  in  money 
and  in  kind,  on  the  French  Gov^ernment  under- 
taking to  provide  rations  for  the  German  troops. 

Article  V.  protects  the  interests  of  the  citizens 
in  the  ceded  territories  ;  and  secures  to  them  the 
right  of  declaring  for  France,  without  having  to 
suffer  any  loss  of  property. 

Article  VI.  provides  that  the  prisoners  of  war 
shall  be  given  up  immediately  after  the  ratification 

L  2 


148  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

of  tlie  preliminaries,  and  prescribes  tlie  necessary 
measures  for  accelerating  that  operation. 

Article  VII.  designates  Brussels  as  tlie  place 
in  wbicli  negotiations  for  the  final  treaty  of  peace 
shall  be  opened,  immediately  after  the  ratification 
of  the  preliminary  treaty. 

ArticleYIII.  restores  the  collection  of  taxes  to  the 
French  Government  at  once;  the  administration, 
properly  so  called,  will  not  be  restored  to  them  until 
after  the  ratification  of  the  final  treaty  of  peace. 

The  two  last  articles  (Articles  IX.  and  X.)  are 
simply  a  matter  of  form.  Added  to  this  was  a 
special  agreement  in  four  articles,  which  M. 
Barthélémy  Saint-IIilaire  also  read  from  the 
tribune. 

Article  I.  prolongs  the  armistice  until  the  12th 
March. 

The  fourth  article  of  the  convention  of  the 
28th  January  was  to  the  effect  that  the  German 
troops  should  not  enter  Paris.  This  was  replaced 
by  Article  II.  in  these  terms  :  "  That  part  of  the 
city  of  Paris,  which  is  within  the  enceinte,  and 
lies  between  the  Seine,  the  Eue  du  Faubourg 
Saint-Honoré  and  the  Avenue  des  Ternes,  will  be 
occupied  by  German  troops,  not  exceeding  30,000 
men  in  number.  The  manner  of  occupation  and 
the  arrangements  for  billeting  the  German  troops 
in  this  part  of  the  city  shall  be  settled  by  agree- 


THE   PRELIMINARIES    OF    PEACE.  149 

ment  between  two  superior  officers  of  the  two 
armies,  and  access  to  it  will  be  forbidden  to  the 
Trench  troops  and  the  National  Guard  so  long  as 
the  occupation  lasts." 

Article  III.  forbids  the  German  troops  to  levy 
contributions  in  money  in  the  occupied  territory, 
but  it  authorizes  the  Germans  to  collect  the  taxes 
due  to  the  state. 

Lastly,  in  virtue  of  the  Article  IV.,  the  two 
contracting  parties  are  at  liberty  to  end  the 
armistice  after  the  3rd  of  March,  with  a  delay  of 
three  days  for  the  resumption  of  hostihties,  if  such 
should  take  place. 

If  we  refer  to  Count  Bismarck's  requirements 
as  they  were  formulated  on  the  21st  February,  we 
shall  see  at  once  what  had  been  obtained  by  our 
negotiators.  We  owed  to  them  the  fortress  of 
Belfort  and  the  reduction  by  a  milliard  of  the 
sum  at  first  demanded.  We  owed  to  them  the 
eventual  substitution  of  a  financial  for  a  territorial 
guarantee,  after  the  payment  of  two  milliards,  the 
suppression  of  requisitions  in  money  and  in  kind, 
the  immediate  restoration  of  our  prisoners,  the 
re-establishment  of  the  French  authorities  after 
the  signing  of  the  peace.  These  concessions, 
wrung  with  immense  difficulty  from  Count  Bis- 
marck, by  dint  of  talent  and  energy,  had  appeared 
to  M.  Thiers,  M.  Jules  Favre,  and  the  parliamen- 


150  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIEKS. 

tary  commission,  to  be  a  succession  of  victories  ; 
but  to  tlie  Assembly,  who  only  saw  tlie  total  result 
of  the  negotiations,  tliat  result  was  overwhelming. 
The  reading  of  the  articles  was  hstened  to  with 
consternation,  and  in  gloomy  silence,  interrupted 
from  time  to  time  by  a  spontaneous  groan  from 
the  benches.  All  this  had  been  foreseen,  yet  it  all 
seemed  new.  So  it  is  wdth  those  who  gather  round 
the  dying;  vain  is  their  knowledge  that  the  agony 
cannot  last  long,  the  actual  death  always  takes 
them  by  surprise  and  redoubles  their  anguish. 

M.  Thiers  demanded  *'  urgency."  There  were 
a  thousand  reasons  for  voting  it.  And  yet,  how 
was  the  Assembly,  hardly  recovered  from  the  har- 
rowing emotion  evoked  by  the  words  w^hich  had 
been  just  read,  to  consummate  so  terrible  a  sacrifice? 
Those  who  would  have  had  the  war  to  continue 
demanded  at  least  time  for  inquiry  and  discussion. 
M.  Tolain,  M.  JMillière,  M.  Langlois,  M.  Turquet, 
opposed  urgency,  which  was,  however,  carried  by 
a  large  majority.  M.  Schœlcher  and  M.  Gambetta 
asked  for  an  adjournment  until  the  next  day,  in 
order  that  the  bill  might  be  printed  and  distri- 
buted. But  M.  Thiers  insisted  that  the  Chamber, 
despite  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  should  at  once  go 
into  committee.  "  There  are,"  said  he,  "  only 
three  or  four  questions  in  this  treaty  for  you  to 
settle.      A   long   and    earnest   examination   was 


THE   PEELIMIN ARIES    OF   PEACE.  151 

necessary  for  tlie  negotiators  ;  they  discussed  in 
despair,  and  even  with  tears,  each  several  con- 
dition of  the  treaty  ;  they  put  forth  all  their 
strength  in  the  effort  to  preserve  to  the  country 
her  territory  and  her  wealth  ;  but  for  you,  I  repeat, 
there  are  only  three  or  four  questions  whose  solu- 
tion is  in  all  minds  and  all  hearts."  He  returned  to 
the  charge  over  and  over  again,  replying  to  every 
objection  :  "  One  thing  only  I  ask  of  you  ;  to 
testify,  by  a  vote,  to  your  zeal  for  the  execution  of 
the  treaty. 

*'  By  the  simple  manifestation  of  this  disposition, 
you  may  exercise  considerable  influence  over  the 
state  of  Paris  ;  you  may  even  save  our  capital  from 
a  great  misfortune." 

In  these  words  M.  Thiers  gave  the  real,  the 
principal  reason  for  his  persistence.  According 
to  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  the  Prussians  were  to 
evacuate  Paris  immediately  upon  the  ratification 
of  peace.  They  had  not  yet  entered  Paris  on  the 
28th.  Arrangements  had  to  be  made  with  the 
Commissariat  and  the  staff,  and  they  were  not  to 
enter  Paris  until  the  1st.  The  Emperor  proposed 
to  come  in  on  the  3rd,  and  to  hold  a  review  in 
the  Champs-Elysées.  In  Paris  nothing  else  was 
thought  of,  whilst  at  Bordeaux,  where  the  treaty 
was  new,  the  "  shameful  and  unacceptable  "  peace 
was  the  sole  topic.     On  the  2Gth  February,  M. 


152  THE   GOVEENMENT   OP   M.   THIERS. 

Jules  Favre  wrote  to  M.  Jules  Simon,  "  We  have 
no  security  against  some  mad  act  on  the  entry  of 
the  Prussians  into  Paris.  They  will  occupy  the 
Champs-Elysées  so  far  as  the  Tuileries.  They 
are  to  remain  until  the  ratification  of  the  prelimi- 
naries. The  ratification  must  therefore  be  speedy. 
Besides,  what  good  can  discussion  do  ?  Who  has 
not  an  opinion  to  give  ?  Is  it  not  an  impiety  to 
expose  the  misfortunes  of  our  country  ;  and  a 
crime  to  add  to  them  the  spectacle  of  civil  dissen- 
sions ?  The  Assembly  will  understand  this.  Our 
colleagues'  hearts  bleed  with  ours.  They  will  think 
as  we  do." 

The  discussion  which  took  place  on  the  1st 
March  was  in  fact  very  short,  occupying  as  it  did 
only  one  sitting  ;  but  it  was  very  passionate.  The 
reporter  was  M.  Victor  Lefranc.  "  We  desire 
but  one  thing,"  said  he,  "  for  the  strengthening 
and  the  pacifying  of  our  consciences.  It  is  that 
this  peace  may  be  disapproved  of  only  by  those  who 
would  have  ventured  to  resolve  upon  prolonging 
war."  In  these  words  all  was  said.  M.  Edgar 
Quinet,  M.  Victor  Hugo,  and  M.  Louis  Blanc  made 
admirable  speeches  on  the  terrible  concessions 
demanded  by  Prussia,  and  the  possibility  of 
renewing  the  struggle.  "Uni il  now,"  said  M. 
Quinet,  "  conquerors  have  contented  themselves 
with  laying  their  hands   upon  a   territory,  with 


THE   PRELIMINAEIES   OF   PEACE.  153 

taking  possession  of  it  by  force.  They  kept  it  if 
they  could.  That  was  the  right  of  war.  Now 
Prussia  has  advanced  entirely  novel  claims.  After 
having  seized  upon  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  she 
demands  that  this  taking  of  possession  shall  be  con- 
secrated by  universal  suffrage.  What  is  up  to  the 
present  time  a  depredation  only  would  then  become 
a  right,  sanctioned  by  the  French  themselves  !  " 
Victor  Hugo  pointed  out  the  political  consequences 
of  such  a  dismemberment.  "  Henceforth,"  he  said, 
"  there  are  in  Europe  two  nations  which  will  be 
formidable,  the  one  because  it  will  be  victorious, 
the  other,  because  it  will  be  vanquished."  He 
affirmed  that  Germany  would  not  keep  her  con- 
quest. "  Taking  is  not  keeping.  Possession 
supposes  consent.  Did  Turkey  possess  Athens  ? 
Did  Austria  possess  Venice  ?  Does  Eussia  possess 
Warsaw  ?  Does  Spain  possess  Cuba  ?  Does 
England  possess  Gibraltar  ?  "  Victor  Hugo  was 
in  the  right  ;  but  he  was  wrong  to  be  in  the  right 
before  an  Assembly  which  was  under  the  yoke  of 
inexorable  necessity.  The  more  the  Assembly 
saw  and  felt  as  he  did,  the  more  angry  with  him 
they  grew.  They  ended  by  forgetting  that  respect 
which  was  doubly  due  to  the  person  of  Victor 
Hugo  and  to  the  cause  he  was  defending.  He 
remembered  this,  on  the  8th  March,  when  being 
desirous  to  express  the  gratitude  of  the  Republi- 


154  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIEES. 

cans  towards  Garibaldi,  he  was  again  interrupted 
and  attacked  by  the  Right.  He  sent  in  his  resig- 
nation on  the  spot.  In  vain  M.  Gré^^  implored 
him  to  withdraw  it,  and  even  refused  to  read  it. 
Victor  Hugo  persisted.  His  letter  of  resignation 
was  read  at  the  sitting  next  day.  "  It  is  one  more 
misfortune  added  to  so  many  others,"  exclaimed 
Louis  Blanc,  "  that  this  powerful  voice  should  be 
silenced  at  the  very  moment  when  it  was  proclaim- 
ing the  country's  gratitude  for  eminent  services. 
This  sentiment  will  be  shared  by  all  who  cherish 
or  revere  genius  fighting  for  liberty." 

M.  Victor  Hugo,  in  opposing  the  treaty  of 
peace,  had  declared  that  France  would  one  day 
take  her  revenge  npon  Germany.  "  France  will 
be  heard  to  say  :  It  is  my  turn  !  Germany, 
behold  me  !  !  !  Am  I  your  enemy  ?  No,  I  am 
your  sister  !  I  have  taken  all,  and  now  restore 
it  upon  one  condition,  that  we  become  but  one 
people,  one  family,  one  single  Republic.  I  am 
about  to  demolish  my  fortresses,  you  shall  destroy 
yours.     My  vengeance  is  brotherly  love  !  " 

The  orators,  who  followed  him,  spoke  only 
of  war.  They  maintained  that  we  might  still 
fight  with  hopes  of  success.  M.  Brunet  pro- 
posed the  formation  of  a  military  commission 
to  examine  our  means  of  action.  M.  Louis 
Blanc   asked,    "  Could    we    not    find    means    to 


THE   PEELIMINAEIES   OF   PEACE.  155 

disconcert  the  Prussians  in  the  science  of  murder, 
and  the  mathematics  of  carnage,  by  forming  all 
the  elements  of  our  strength  into  one  homogeneous 
whole,  substituting  partisan  warfare  for  a  great 
war  ;  avoiding  pitched  battles,  no  longer  opposing 
a  mass  of  men,  raised  hap-hazard,  and  undis- 
ciplined, to  hostile  armies,  strong  in  organization 
and  numbers,  but  a  large  number  of  small  corps, 
whose  varied,  ceaseless,  and  unforeseen  action 
would  harass  and  weaken  the  enemy,  and  baffle 
its  strategy." 

M.  Thiers  had  ascended  the  tribune  the  first 
time,  only,  as  it  were,  to  ask  that  he  might  not  be 
called  upon  to  speak. 

"  If  I  could  have  seen,"  he  said,  "  the  slightest 
chance  of  maintaining  the  struggle,  of  maintaining 
it  successfully,  never  would  I  have  subjected  myself 
to  one  of  the  greatest  sorrows  of  my  life,  that 
of  signing  the  preliminaries  of  peace  which  I  have 
brought  you.  It  is  my  absolute  conviction  of  the 
impossibility  of  continuing  this  struggle,  which  has 
constrained  me  to  bow  my  head  before  the  strength 
of  the  foreigner.  I  entreat  you  not  to  impose 
upon  me  the  necessity  of  explaining  the  grounds 
of  my  conviction  ;  my  silence  is  a  sacrifice  which 
I  make  to  the  safety  and  the  future  of  my  country.' 
(Hear!  hear!)  Yes,  my  profound  conviction  is, 
that  by  making  peace  to-day,  and  by  submitting 


156  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIEUS. 

to  this  great  trial,  we  are  saving  the  future  of  our 
country,  and  securing  her  future  greatness.  This 
hope  alone  could  have  determined  me.  I  offer  no 
advice  to  the  Assembly  ;  I  can  only  counsel  it  by 
my  example.  (Hear!  hear!)  I  have  imposed 
upon  myself,  I  repeat,  one  of  the  most  cruel 
sorrows  of  my  life."  At  this  point  the  speaker 
was  overcome  by  emotion,  and  the  Assembly  broke 
out  into  applause.  "  I  conjure  my  honourable 
colleagues  not  to  force  me  to  explain  myself 
further.  The  interests  of  our  country  alone  could 
constrain  me  to  enter  more  at  length  upon  this 
discussion." 

It  may  be  said  that  nearly  all  the  Assembly 
understood  these  words,  and  shared  the  senti- 
ments of  the  speaker.  Even  of  the  hundred 
and  seven  representatives  who  voted  some  hours 
afterwards  against  the  ratification  of  the  treaty, 
more  than  half  recognized,  not  the  impossibility 
of  fighting,  for  no  such  impossibility  existed,  but 
the  impossibility  of  victory.  Certain  orators, 
however,  insisted  upon  speaking  against  the  suffi- 
ciently-evident feeling  of  the  Assembly.  To  what 
end  it  would  be  hard  to  tell,  for  each  member  had 
reflected  upon  and  studied  the  matter  ;  it  was  the 
great  care,  the  great  trouble  of  the  moment  ;  no 
Frenchman  could  banish  it  fi^om  his  thoughts. 
The  deputies  who  had  accepted  so  great  a  respon- 


THE   PEELIMINABIES    OF   PEACE.  157 

sibility  were  not  suddenly  enlightened  on  this  occa- 
sion as  to  the  state  of  our  resources.  Each  had 
made  up  his  mind  beforehand.  In  the  bureaus, 
where  all  the  details  might  be  entered  into,  and 
where  publicity  does  not  exist,  there  might  have 
been  discussion,  in  order  to  convince  ;  at  a  public 
sitting,  to  discuss  was  to  accuse.  And,  in  fact, 
the  bearing  of  every  speech  was  an  accusation 
against  M.  Thiers. 

"  This  is  a  peace  which  cannot  be  accepted, 
you  say.  A  treaty  of  shame  !  Let  him  who 
speaks  of  shame  stand  up  !  "  cried  M.  Thiers,  who 
was  at  last  obliged  to  reascend  the  tribune  and  put 
the  truth  before  those  who  did  not,  or  feigned 
not  to  see  it.  He  did  this  in  a  few  words.  He 
showed  what  our  regiments  were  when  the  war 
broke  out.  Blank  cadres.  We  went  to  war  with 
blank  cadres,  insuflScient  war  material,  an  inca- 
pable general,  an  absurd  plan  of  campaign.  This 
was  the  crime  of  the  Empire.  Out  of  120  regi- 
ments, 117  were  made  prisoners  at  Sedan  and 
Metz.  It  is  true  that  armies  were  raised  to 
replace  these  regiments,  but  those  armies  were 
merely  masses  of  men,  doomed,  in  spite  of  their 
bravery  and  the  skill  of  their  generals,  to  defeat 
and  slaughter.  A  soldier  cannot  be  made  in  a 
day  ;  cadres  cannot  be  filled  in  a  year.  "  Where 
are  they,  these  armies  that  sprang  from  the  earth  ? 


158  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

In  Germany.  We  have  left  only  200,000  recruits 
under  arms.  The  levee  en  masse,  supposing  it 
possible,  would  not  give  us  an  officer,  or  a  ser- 
geant. We  should  resume  the  contest  now,  having 
lost  420,000  men,  all  our  former  cadres  of 
trained  and  experienced  officers  and  sub-officers, 
an  immense  quantity  of  war  material,  Strasbourg, 
Metz,  Paris,  all  the  positions  north  of  the  Loire. 
It  is  not  the  feebleness  of  France  that  I  come  to 
plead.  I  would  die  rather  than  plead  that.  I  would 
fain  preserve  hope,  for  without  hope  I  could  not 
live.  I  only  want  to  tell  you  that  your  organiza- 
tion has  been  shattered,  and  that  you  cannot  put 
it  together  again  in  a  few  days.  If  there  are  any 
military  men  here  who  think  that  they  can  say 
the  contrary,  let  them  declare  it  from  this  tribune 
and  I  will  answer  them." 

In  this  speech,  which  occupied  only  a  few 
minutes,  M.  Thiers  delineated  our  true  position  in 
a  few  graphic  touches  ;  that  was  neither  the  time 
nor  place  to  enter  into  details.  It  is  the  misfor- 
tune of  representative  governments  that  too  often 
under  critical  circumstances  they  cannot  tell  every- 
thing, they  cannot  assign  their  true  motives.  The 
Assembly  had,  in  the  sitting  of  the  19th  Feb- 
ruary, upon  the  proposal  of  M.  Barthélémy 
Saint-Hilaire,  ordered  an  inquiry  into  the  state 
of  our  military  resources.     This  inquiry  had  been 


THE  PEELIMINAEIES  OF  PEACE.       159 

effected  witli  great  expedition  ;  the  results  were 
not  published  until  the  11th  March,  but  the 
members  of  the  commission  were  in  possession 
of  the  principal  items.  M.  Brunei  asserted  from 
the  tribune  that  we  could  bring  into  the  field 
a  million  of  men  and  12,000  field-pieces.  "  I  am 
a  member  of  the  military  commission,"  said  he, 
*'  and  from  the  first  day  to  the  last  I  have  sought 
to  make  myself  acquainted  with  the  real  state  of 
our  forces.  I  say  that,  in  respect  of  men,  who 
number  a  miUion,  and  in  respect  of  material, 
which  includes  12,000  field-pieces,  we  are  in  such 
a  position,  that  with  great  eff"orts,  and  under  the 
direction  of  an  earnest  executive,  it  is  possible  to 
reestablish  our  armies  and  to  continue  the  con- 
test." Thus,  in  this  same  sitting  of  the  1st  March, 
M.  Brunet,  a  member  of  the  commission,  talks  of 
a  million  of  men,  and  M.  Thiers,  Chief  of  the 
Executive,  declares  that  we  could  not  take  the 
field  against  a  regular  army  of  500,000  soldiers. 
The  Assembly  would  have  been  able  to  account 
for  this  apparent  contradiction  ;  they  would  have 
seen  the  truth  clearly,  if  the  Report  of  Admiral 
Jaureguiberry,  which  was  not  distributed  until  ten 
days  afterwards,  had  been  before  them.  Yes  ! 
France  had  called  out  a  million  of  men;  but  of 
this  million,  420,000  were  prisoners.  There  was 
still  an  active  army  of  534,000  men,  a  reserve  of 


160  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

354,000,  and  tliose  enrolled  in  1871,  consisting 
of  132,000  men,  who  might  be  called  out  at  short 
notice.  All  these  came  to  more  than  a  million  on 
paper.  The  error  was  in  thinking  that  a  million  of 
men  were  at  our  disposal.  Unhappily,  the  report 
of  M.  Jauréguiberry  dispelled  the  illusion.  We 
shall  see  presently  how  he  rated  the  active  army. 
Let  us  begin,  like  him,  with  the  army  of  reserve. 
"  The  men  now  existing  in  the  territorial  divisions, 
in  the  depots,  in  Algeria,  and  a  large  number  of 
mobilized  national  guards  in  the  training  camps, 
will  form,  when  armed,  equipped,  and  drilled,  the 
reserve  of  the  active  army.  At  present  not 
more  than  53,087  soldiers  of  various  arms  could 
be  placed  in  line.  It  would  be  possible,  later  on, 
to  add  to  these  forces  the  men  enrolled  in  1871, 
whose  effective  strength  amounts  to  132,000 
recruits.  But  the  Minister  of  War  has  not 
thought  it  advisable  to  call  out  these  young 
men,  because  he  is  unable  to  arm,  clothe,  and 
drill  them." 

Here,  then,  are  nearly  350,000  men,  who  form 
our  reserves,  as  the  Admiral  says,  and  will  make 
an  army,  when  they  have  been  drilled,  disciplined, 
equipped,  and  trained.  They  might  indeed  be 
counted  upon  "to  reorganize  our  army,"  as  M. 
Brunet  said  ;  but  it  is  not  a  question  of  reorgan- 
izing armies,  but  of  having  an  army  to  bring  into 


THE   PEELIMINAEIES   OP   PEACE.  161 

the  field  by  the  6tli  of  Marcli,  tbe  day  on  wliich 
hostilities  might  be  recommenced,  according  to  the 
terms  of  the  armistice. 

'Now  out  of  these  354,000,  or  500,000  men, 
if  we  reckon  those  enrolled  in  1871,  how 
many  can  be  brought  into  the  field  on  that 
day — for  the  particular  date  is  all-important  ? 
Admiral  Jaureguiberry  replies  with  inexorable 
precision,  53,087.  M.  de  Guirand  gives  the  same 
number  in  a  supplementary  Report  upon  the 
efi&ciency  of  the  army,  but  it  is  noticeable  that  to 
the  words,  "  53,100  men,  ready  for  service,"  he 
adds,  "  wanting  accoutrements."  The  active  army 
was  then  the  only  force  on  which  we  could 
reckon.  "  France  can  only  count  at  present,"  says 
the  Report,  "  upon  the  troops  forming  the  active 
army.  These  will  be  immediately  called  upon  to 
maintain  the  struggle  should  hostilities  be  re- 
commenced." The  effective  strength  of  the  ten 
army  corps  composing  our  active  army,  on  the 
1st  March,  1871,  was  proved  to  amount  to 
634,552  men,  a  number  somewhat  short  of  the 
million  M.  Brunet  talked  of.  From  this  total 
2090  had  to  be  deducted  for  the  gendarmerie; 
2375  for  the  staff",  6,408  for  the  various  adminis- 
trations, in  all  about  11,000  men.  M.  de  Mornay, 
who  also  furnished  a  Report,  deducts,  besides, 
16,022    men   for   the    free    corps.      "  The    free 

VOL.  I.  M 


162  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIEES. 

corps,"  lie  says,  "wliicli  were  very  numerous  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  are  now  greatly 
reduced  in  numbers.  Their  presence  in  advance 
of  the  army  has  been,  besides,  of  very  little 
advantage,  and  with  the  exception  of  some 
special  corps,  whose  exploits  recall  the  finest 
traits  of  heroism  in  our  history,  the  military 
authorities  have  found  themselves  under  the 
necessity  of  disbanding  most  of  them.  They 
were  sometimes  more  dangerous  than  useful,  and 
their  insubordination  and  want  of  discipline  were 
very  injurious  to  the  regular  troops."  Both 
Admiral  Jauréguiberry  and  M.  de  Mornay  re- 
ported very  unfavourably  of  the  mobilized  corps. 
"We  must  quote  the  admiral's  words. 

"  With  regard  to  the  mobilized  national  guards, 
whose  cadres  have  been  filled  by  election,  we  must 
unfortunately  admit  that  they  have  hardly  ren- 
dered any  service,  and  that  their  ignorance  of 
the  art  of  war,  their  want  of  discipline  and  of 
steadiness  in  presence  of  the  enemy,  have  fre- 
quently been  the  cause  of  serious  evils.  Some 
splendid  exceptions  ought,  however,  to  be  pointed 
out,  for  mobilized  battalions  might  be  named 
whose  ardour  has  rivalled  that  of  veteran 
troops. 

"It  is  not  impossible,"  he  adds,  "to  remedy 
the  relative  inferiority  of  this  considerable  portion 


THE    PEELIMINAEIES    OE    PEACE.  163 

of  our  troops  ;  but  for  this  it  would  be  necessary 
completely  to  reform  their  cadres,  to  give  them 
military  instruction  and  habits  of  discipline, 
which  need  time  for  their  acquirement,  under 
the  direction  of  capable  commanders,  at  once 
energetic  and  patient."  We  must  then  deduct, 
according  to  the  Admiral,  135,735  mobilized 
national  guards,  who  would,  like  the  men  of  the 
reserve,  have  become  good  soldiers  in  time  ;  but 
time  was  precisely  that  which  we  lacked  most  ;  and 
the  Germans,  aware  of  our  state  of  disorganiza- 
tion, refused  to  give  us  even  until  the  12th  March  ; 
and  insisted  upon  the  right  of  recommencing  the 
war  at  their  pleasure.  "  The  armistice  may  be 
declared  at  an  end  on  the  3rd,  hostilities  may 
recommence  on  the  6th."  All  deductions  made, 
we  could  actually  bring  into  the  field  60,307 
men,  consisting  of  regiments  of  the  line,  and 
135,735  mobilized  guards,  in  all,  204,942  men. 
These  are  Admiral  Jauréguiberry's  figures.  "  In 
one  word,  at  present  we  could  in  reality  only 
oppose  to  the  enemy's  armies  205,000  infantry, 
including  regiments  of  the  line  and  mobiles  ; 
nearly  all  the  rest  is  a  hindrance,  and  a  source  of 
disorder,  and  can  only  furnish  us  with  soldiers 
worthy  of  the  name  several  months  hence." 

A  force  subsequently  mentioned  by  the  Admiral 
must,  however,  be  added  to  the  list  ;  it  consisted 

M  2 


164  THE    GOVEENMENT  OF   M.   THIERS. 

of  a  corps  of  marines  14,000  strong — one  small  in 
numbers,  but  great  in  military  virtues  and  wortli. 
Our  infantry  was  tlius  raised  to  a  total  of  220,000 
men. 

Admiral  Jaureguiberry  concludes  : — 

"  We  have  then,  outside  of  special  arms,  only 
220,000  infantry  capable  of  offering  resistance." 

"  Shall  this  resistance  be  crowned  with  the 
success  we  all  desire  so  ardently  ?  We  dare  not 
even  hope  it;  for  we  must  not  hide  from  our- 
selves, that  to  conquer  armies,  so  numerous,  so 
well  organized  in  all  respects  as  those  of  our  enemy, 
it  is  indispensable  that  our  troops  should  be,  not 
only  trained  and  well  armed,  but,  above  all, 
animated  by  a  spirit  of  dauntless  endurance, 
by  contempt  of  danger,  and  by  an  ardent 
patriotism,  which  unfortunately  they  do  not  all 
possess. 

"  The  220,000  infantry  upon  whom  we  can  count, 
up  to  a  certain  point,  are  too  easily  disheartened. 
A  fight  prolonged  beyond  a  few  hours  fatigues  and 
disconcerts  them,  and  as  our  enemies  have  always 
reserves  at  theircommand,  while thenumerical  weak- 
ness of  our  army  deprives  us  of  a  similar  resource, 
the  result  is,  that  at  the  end  of  an  obstinate  engage- 
ment, during  which  we  have  succeeded  in  main- 
taining our  positions,  we  are  obliged  to  retreat, 
because  the  enemy  has  been  able  to  make  a  flank 


THE  PEELIMINARIES  OP  PEACE.       165 

movement  at  a  great  distance,  or  to  recommence 
the  attack  with  fresh  troops. 

"  Our  soldiers  would  fight  with  more  obstinacy, 
and  would  not  break  their  ranks,  if  the  cadres 
of  our  regiments  were  better  composed. 

"  The  disasters  of  the  outset  of  the  war  have 
deprived  France  of  nearly  all  her  best  officers  and 
sub-officers." 

It  is  necessary  to  insist  upon  these  details, 
because  it  is  now  constantly  said,  by  men  who 
believe  what  they  say,  that  we  had  a  million  of  men 
to  bring  into  the  field,  and  that  we  could  have 
reversed  our  defeat  by  a  levée  en  masse.  The  facts, 
for  whose  accuracy  such  a  man  as  Jauréguiberry 
has  vouched,  are  a  conclusive  answer  to  all  state- 
ments of  this  kind.  The  commission  included 
eight  generals,  three  colonels  on  active  service, 
and  several  retired  officers.  It  is  not  possible,  in 
the  face  of  such  a  report,  to  accuse  France  of 
cowardice.  She  submitted  to  peace,  because  she 
could  not  continue  the  war  without  rushing  upon 
irreparable  disaster.  The  205,000  with  whom  we 
must  have  opposed  the  500,000  disciplined  soldiers 
of  the  German  army,  were  made  up  of  soldiers  of 
various  arms  and  regiments,  for  we  had  no  longer 
a  complete  regiment  of  the  former  line.  These 
soldiers  formed  a  regiment,  if  you  will,  because 
they  had  a  number,  colours,  and  a  colonel  ;  but 


166  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

the  real  regiment,  wticb.  is  a  family,  wliose  officers 
know  their  soldiers,  and  tlie  soldiers  their  officers, 
where  each  man  is  surrounded  by  friends  and 
observers,  where  there  is  a  heritage  of  honour  to 
defend  in  common,  the  regiment  which  con- 
stituted the  glory  and  the  strength  of  the  former 
army  of  France  ;  where  was  it  ?  "  All  these  corps," 
says  Jauréguibery,  speaking  of  the  205,000  men, 
who  formed  almost  the  whole  of  our  army  ;  "  all 
these  corps  have  for  the  most  part  new  cadres,  and 
in  capacity  and  experience  are  too  often  defec- 
tive." When  the  admiral  thus  pronounced  upon 
the  numbers  and  condition  of  our  forces,  with 
the  sure  judgment  of  a  man  accustomed  to  war, 
he  could  not  foresee  the  spectacle  that  should  be 
presented  by  a  part  of  our  army  at  Paris  on 
the  18th  March  ;  he  had  not  seen  the  soldiers 
huddled  together  at  Versailles  the  day  after  the  in- 
surrection, irresolute,  undisciplined,  hardly  know- 
ing whether  they  would  or  would  not  make  up 
their  minds  to  obey  and  fight.  It  is  true,  this 
same  army  reformed  itself  after  the  first  shots 
were  fired  ;  but  who  among  us  can  ever  forget 
the  suspense  of  all  patriots,  until  the  troops  of 
General  Yinoy,  descending  the  heights  of  Montre- 
tout,  dispersed  the  insurgents  and  drove  them 
beyond  Neuilly.  At  that  date  Germany  had 
already    given  us  back  some  of  our   imprisoned 


THE    PRELIMINAEIES   OF    PEACE.  167 

soldiers,  tlie  cadres  liad  been  reconstituted,  which 
was  all-important,  and  could  not  have  been  done 
but  for  the  peace.  To  judge  what  our  army 
could  have  done  if  all  the  prisoners  had  remained 
in  Germany,  by  what  it  actually  did,  with  the 
good  officers  and  sub -officers  belonging  to  the 
old  regiments  and  just  returned  to  us,  would  be 
to  imitate  the  error  of  those  speakers,  who,  at  the 
sitting  of  the  1st  March,  reckoned  raw  recruits, 
who  did  not  know  how  to  handle  a  musket  if  they 
had  even  had  muskets  to  handle,  as  fighting  men 
fit  to  march  against  the  enemy.  Two  facts  were 
incontestably  proved  by  Admiral  Jauréguiberry's 
Report  :  one,  that  we  could  not  fight  to-day  ;  the 
other,  that  we  might  recover  to-morrow.  Thus, 
then,  we  must  submit  to  peace,  if  we  would  reserve 
the  future  to  ourselves.  A  re-perusal  of  M.  Thiers' 
speech  on  that  memorable  and  sorrowful  occa- 
sion, on  which  the  Assembly  ratified  the  treaty  of 
peace,  must  lead  to  this  double  conclusion,  and 
we  know  that  the  years  which  have  since  passed 
away  have  confirmed  the  precision  of  his  words 
upon  those  two  points. 

The  Assembly,  who  at  that  time  had  unlimited 
confidence  in  him,  divined  what  he  did  not  utter, 
took  his  reserve  kindly,  and  hastened  to  close  the 
discussion  in  accordance  with  his  advice,  in  which 
they  all   concurred.     It   was   indeed   more   than 


1G8  THE    GOVEKNMEÎs"T   OF   M.    THIERS. 

time  to  have  done  witli  it.  On  tbat  very  day,  tlie 
1st  Marcli,  the  Prussians  invaded  the  Champs 
Elysées  ;  the  Emperor  of  Germany  was  to  make 
his  solemn  entry  two  days  later.  By  an  imme- 
diate vote  Paris  might  be  delivered  after  an  occu- 
pation of  forty-eight  hours,  and  the  military  fetes^ 
which  would  have  been  an  insult  to  us,  and 
dangerous  to  all,  prevented.  M.  Thiers  had  only 
been  able  to  hint  at  this,  M.  Cocbery  reiterated 
it  pertinaciously.  The  sitting  had  been  already 
prolonged  by  the  incident,  due  to  the  imprudence 
of  M.  Conti,  which  had  led  to  the  declaration 
of  the  deposition  of  the  Imperial  dynasty. 
M.  Henri  Martin,  M.  André  (of  Moselle),  M. 
Langlois,  M.  Brisson,  M.  Delescluze,  M.  Floquet, 
M.  Clemenceau,  M.  Tolain,  and  others  had  put 
down  their  names,  but  they  all  waived  their 
right  to  speak.  What  could  they  have  said  after 
such  speakers  as  M.  Victor  Hugo,  M.  Edgar  Quinet, 
M.  Louis  Blanc  ?  "What  could  they  have  replied 
to  M.  Thiers  ?  General  Changarnier,  in  a  few 
supremely  dignified  words,  advised  peace.  The 
Assembly  voted  for  peace  by  548  votes  against  107. 
It  was  remarked  at  the  counting,  and  has  since 
been  commented  upon,  that  four  generals.  Billot, 
Chanzy,  Loysel,  and  Mazure,  had  voted  against 
peace.  General  Deligny  abstained  from  voting, 
as  did  the  Orleans  Princes.     On  the  other  hand, 


THE    PEELIMINAEIES    OP   PEACE.  169 

the  ratification  was  voted  by  nineteen  generals 
and  admirals — D'Aurelles  de  Paladines,  Cliabaud- 
Latour,  Chabron,  Changarnier,  Charetou,  Dom- 
pierre  d'Hornoy,  Ducrot,  Fouriclion,  Frebault, 
Jauréguiberry,  La  E-oncière  le  Noury,  Le  Flo, 
Martin  des  Pallières,  Montaignac,  Pellissier,  Poth- 
uan,  Saisset  du  Temple,  and  Trocbu.  Among 
the  four  who  voted  in  silence  that  day,  General 
Chanzy  only  explained  himself  afterwards,  when 
he  spoke,  on  the  18th  May,  1871,  against  the 
final  treaty  of  peace.  It  would  be  rash  to 
speculate  upon  the  motives  of  the  other  three, 
but  it  may  be  admitted  that  in  the  improbable 
but  not  impossible  case  of  a  resumption  of 
hostilities,  they  did  not  wish  to  record  their  con- 
viction that  success  was  impossible  beforehand. 

M.  Jules  Simon  had  taken  measures  that  the 
text  of  the  law,  clothed  with  all  the  ojfficial  for- 
malities, should  be  at  once  carried  to  Paris,  and 
communicated  to  Count  Bismarck.  The  document 
had  been  copied  beforehand,  and  prepared  for  the 
necessary  signatures,  which  were  affixed  to  it 
immediately  after  the  vote.  A  special  train  was 
in  readiness,  and  started  at  once  for  Paris,  carry- 
ing deliverance  to  the  capital. 

The  ratification  was  the  signal  for  numerous 
resignations.  M.  Girot-Pouzol  had  resigned  at 
the  commencement  of  the  sittinsr.     *'  I  could  not 


170  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    TUIEIÎS. 

make  up  my  mind  to  vote  for  the  bill,"  said  lie; 
"  but  as  I  know  that  in  acting  thus  I  should  not 
give  satisfaction  to  my  constituents,  I  resign  my 
seat."  The  terms  in  which  the  resignation  of 
M.  Grosjean  and  his  colleagues  of  Moselle,  and  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Rhine,  were  tendered,  affected 
the  Assembly  painfully.     They  were  as  follows  : — 

"  The  representatives  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine, 
prior  to  any  peace  negotiations,  laid  a  declaration 
before  the  National  Assembly,  by  which  they 
affirmed,  in  the  name  of  these  provinces,  their  will 
and  their  right  to  remain  French.  Delivered 
over,  in  contempt  of  all  justice  and  by  an  odious 
abuse  of  power,  to  the  rule  of  the  foreigner,  we 
have  a  last  duty  to  fulfil. 

"  We  declare  once  more  that  a  compact  which 
disposes  of  us  without  our  consent  is  null  and 
void." 

"It  remains  for  ever  open  to  one  and  all  of  us 
to  claim  our  rights,  in  such  form  and  measure  as 
our  conscience  may  dictate. 

"  On  quitting  this  Assembly,  in  which  our 
dignity  no  longer  allows  us  to  sit,  and  notwith- 
standing the  bitterness  of  our  grief,  the  one 
supreme  feeling  in  the  depth  of  our  hearts  is 
gratitude  to  those  who  for  six  months  have  unceas- 
ingly defended  us,  and  of  unalterable  attachment 
to  the  country  from  which  we  are  violently  torn. 


THE  PBELIMINAEIES  OP  PEACE.       171 

"  We  shall  follow  you  witli  our  hearts,  and 
wait  with  perfect  confidence,  until,  in  the  future, 
regenerated  France  shall  once  more  resume  the 
course  of  her  great  destiny. 

"  Your  brethren  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  now 
separated  from  the  common  family,  will  preserve 
a  faithful  love  for  France,  absent  from  our  fire- 
sides, until  the  day  when  she  shall  return  and 
resume  her  place  there." 

This  document  bore  twenty-eight  signatures, 
and  was  followed  by  the  resignation  of  the  three 
deputies  of  Meurthe;  MM.  Varroy,  Brice,  and 
Claude.  Some  of  those  who  resigned  again 
obtained  seats  in  the  Assembly,  either  by  new 
elections,  or  in  consequence  of  a  parliamentary 
incident  wliich  occurred  at  the  sitting  of  the  11th 
March,  on  the  resignation  of  MM.  Georges  and 
Denfert-Rochereau,  and  which,  we  will  narrate  in 
this  place. 

M.  Grévy,  after  having  read  letters  from  the  two 
deputies  above-mentioned,  spoke  as  follows  : — 

"  The  President  avails  himself  of  this  oppor- 
tunity to  point  out  to  M.  Georges  and  M.  Denfert, 
and  also  to  those  among  our  colleagues,  who, 
finding  themselves  placed  in  an  analogous  posi- 
tion have  thought  it  right  to  send  in  their  resig- 
nation, that  notwithstanding  the  changes  of 
condition  which  the  populations  who  elected  them 


172  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

have  had  to  undergo,  they  are,  and  ought  to 
remain,  representatives  of  the  French  people. 
It  is  my  duty  to  point  this  out,  in  the  interests 
of  the  Assembly,  as  well  as  in  those  of  the 
populations  of  the  Eastern  provinces,  who  will 
remain  French. 

"  I  can  only  invite  M.  Georges  and  those  of  our 
colleagues  who  are  in  the  same  position,  not  to 
persist  in  their  withdrawal  and  resignation." 

These  words  received  unanimous  assent.  M. 
Georges,  who  was  present  at  the  sitting,  im- 
mediately withdrew  his  resignation  ;  MM.  Varroy, 
Brice,  Claude,  Bamberger,  André,  and  Deschange 
followed  his  example.  Twenty  deputies  were, 
however,  finally  lost  to  the  nation.  This  was  a 
source  of  grief  to  the  whole  country;  and  a  severe 
blow  to  the  Republican  party,  who  thus  found 
their  numerical  strength  lessened,  and  had  to 
regret  it  bitterly,  on  one  or  two  important  occa- 
sions, when  they  were  beaten  by  a  majority  of  one 
or  two. 

The  2nd  March  brought  demonstrations  of  a 
different  class  ;  first  came  the  collective  resigna- 
tion of  MM.  Rochefort,  Ranc,  Tridon,  and  Malon. 
The  latter  signed  himself,  "  B.  Malon  of  the  In- 
ternational." Their  letter  declares  the  Assembly 
deposed;  and  is  a  formal  act  of  insurrection,  a 
forerunner  of  the  insurrection  of  the  18th  March. 


THE    PEELIMINARIES    OF   PEACE.  173 

"By  the  vote  of  tlie  1st  March  the  Assembly 
has  dehvered  up  two  provinces,  dismembered 
France,  ruined  the  country.  It  is  therefore  no 
longer  the  voice  of  the  country,  and  its  delibera- 
tions are  henceforth  null  and  void. 

"  The  votes  of  the  four  generals  commanding 
our  army  corps,  and  the  significant  abstention  of 
three  others  from  voting,  give  a  formal  contradic- 
tion to  M.  Thiers'  assertions  that  we  are  incapable 
of  continuing  the  war. 

"  Our  conscience,  therefore,  forbids  us  to  sit  a 
day  longer  in  an  Assembly  whose  acts  we  cannot 
recognize  as  valid." 

The  three  generals  mentioned  in  this  letter, 
as  having  abstained  from  voting,  are  General 
Deligny,  the  Due  d'Aumale,  and  M.  de  Charette. 
The  latter  was  at  Rennes  when  the  vote  was 
taken.  His  resignation,  based  upon  other  motives 
than  the  vote  of  the  1st  March,  reached  the 
Assembly  on  the  6th. 

M.  Félix  Pyat's  letter  is  in  the  same  style  as  that 
of  MM.  Rochefort,  Ranc,  Tridon,  and  Malon: — 

"  Citizen  President, 

"  The  vote  of  the  National  Assembly  has  im- 
posed a  duty  of  conscience  upon  me  ;  the  duty  of 
declaring  that  this  vote  has  outraged  my  mandate. 
I  am  the  representative  of  the  sovereign  people, 


17é  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIEES. 

and  not  their  master,  and  if  I  kept  silence  before 
the  vote,  it  was  because  I  was  not  authorized  to 
discuss  such  a  treaty. 

*'  I  have  received  from  the  people  an  impera- 
tive mandate.  I  do  not  know  the  mandate  of 
others,  but  I  know  my  own.  It  is  this  :  An 
honourable  peace,  Trance  and  the  Kepublic 
indivisible. 

"  I  am  then  bound  to  protest,  not  to  resign. 
The  Assembly  has  no  power  to  accept  my 
resignation,  for  it  is  dissolved.  It  no  longer 
represents  France,  all  France,  by  whom  it  was 
called  together  on  the  8th  February:  it  exists 
no  longer. 

"Faithful  to  my  mandate,  to  the  unity  of  France, 
to  the  duty  of  representing  her  such  as  she  was 
when  her  capital  did  me  the  honour  to  elect  me, 
I  am  bound  to  protest,  by  leaving  this  Assembly, 
which  can  no  longer  represent  France  in  her 
entirety,  and  I  will  never  enter  it  again  so  long  as 
this  parricidal  vote  shall  remain  unannulled. 
*'  Greeting  and  fraternity, 

"  Felix  Pyat.'* 

M.  Ledru  Rollin  had  been  beforehand  with 
them  all.  He  resigned  on  the  28th  February, 
from  similar  motives,  having  protested  in  advance 
"  against  the  harrowing  and  fatal  things  that  were 
about  to  take  place." 


THE   PRELIMINAEIES   OF   PEACE.  175 

Sucli  is,  in  brief,  tlie  sad  history  of  the  prelimi- 
naries of  peace. 

The  final  treaty,  which  was  only  the  applica- 
tion of  the  bases  laid  down  by  these  preliminaries, 
was  discussed  at  Frankfort  during  the  insurrec- 
tion of  Paris,  and  voted  at  Versailles  on  the  20th 
May,  1871. 


176  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIEfiS. 


CHAPTER  lY. 

PARIS  BEFORE  THE  i8th  MARCH,   1 8/ 1. 

The  insurrection  of  the  Commune,  wliicli  tri- 
umphed on  the  18th  March,  did  not  begin  on  that 
day.  The  same  actors,  with  the  same  object, 
may  be  traced  in  all  the  disturbances  in 
February  and  March,  1871  ;  and  again  on  the 
31st  of  October,  and  the  22nd  of  January. 
It  would  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  they 
took  the  chief  part  on  the  4th  of  September  ; 
that  day's  work  was  the  deed  of  the  entire  popu- 
lation. A  multitude  in  which  parties  were  lost, 
rendered  all-powertul  by  indignation,  overturned 
the  Imperial  Government,  without  any  considera- 
tion of  what  was  to  be  substituted  for  it.  The 
future  organizers  of  the  Commune  were,  how- 
ever, on  the  spot,  and  were  perhaps  the  only 
persons  who  had  a  fixed  design,  and  were  under 
control.  They  were  the  first  to  enter  the 
Assembly,  and  they  marched  to  the  Hôtel  de  Ville 


PAEIS    JBEFOEE   THE    i8tH    MAECH,    1 87 1.         177 

witli  tlie  premeditated  intention  of  seizing  upon 
the  reins  of  government.  They  had  indeed 
formed  their  government  beforehand — Blanqui 
and  Delescluze  were  its  chiefs, — and  they  had 
already  thrown  the  list  of  names  out  of  the 
windows  of  the  Salle  St.  Jean,  among  the  crowd, 
when  M.  Jules  Favre  appeared  upon  the  balcony, 
and  was  saluted  by  acclamations  which  put  a  stop 
to  all  competition.  They  submitted,  with  a  bitter 
regret,  that  they  did  not  try  to  conceal,  to  the 
formation  of  the  Government  of  Defence,  impro- 
vised on  the  spur  of  the  moment  by  the  500,000 
men  who  thronged  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  the 
Place  de  Bourgogne,  the  quays,  the  Place  de 
l'Hôtel  de  Ville,  and  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  itself,  and 
who  with  one  voice  laid  this  burden  upon  the 
deputies  for  Paris.  Decimated  after  the  Coup 
d'Etat  of  the  2nd  December,  and  the  proscription 
which  ensued,  this  party  had  left  the  Republicans, 
liberal  and  conservative,  to  carry  on  the  struggle 
against  the  Empire.  They  did  not  appear,  either 
as  speakers  at  the  electoral  meetings,  or  as  candi- 
dates in  the  elections  of  1857,  1858,  and  18(33. 
They  had  a  candidate  of  their  own  for  the  first 
time  in  the  partial  elections  of  1864.  The  earliest 
organization  of  workmen,  which  had  nothing 
political  about  it  at  the  outset,  dates  from  1862. 
Sixty  delegates,  chosen  by  the  workmen  out  of 

VOL.  I.  N 


178  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIEES. 

the  different  corporations,  were  sent  at  the  Govern- 
ment expense  to  the  Exhibition  in  London.  On 
their  return  to  Paris  their  reports  had  to  be 
written  out,  read  in  common,  and  revised  for 
pubhcation  :  all  this  took  time.  The  sixty  dele- 
gates asked  nothing  better  than  to  become  a 
permanent  representation  of  the  workmen,  and 
the  workmen  asked  nothing  better  than  to  have 
one.  Two  years  later,  in  1864,  the  sixty  men 
still  formed  a  sort  of  central  committee,  which 
claimed  to  speak  in  the  name  of  the  workshops  of 
Paris.  The  partial  elections  seemed  to  offer  a 
good  opportunity  for  asserting  themselves.  They 
published  a  political  and  social  manifesto,  and 
called  for  a  workman  candidate.  The  desired 
candidate  was  M.  Tolaiu,  who  stood  against  M. 
Garnier  Pages,  and  had  only  495  votes. 

Then  it  was  that  Proudhon  published  his  book, 
entitled  "  La  Capacité  Politique  des  Classes  Ouv- 
lièresy  "Since,"  he  says,  "the  working  classes 
have  for  the  first  time  made  an  act  of  will  and 
personality  in  the  elections  of  1863-64,  since  it  is 
upon  this  occasion  that  we  have  heard  them 
stammer  their  ideas,  since  their  first  appearance 
has  been  at  once  a  great  victory  and  a  great 
blunder,  let  us  begin  by  showing  them  the  conse- 
quences of  the  experiment."  The  great  victory 
was  their  having  beaten  the  Government,  and  the 


PARIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.       179 

great  blunder,  according  to  Proudhon,  was  tlieir 
having  sacrificed  tlie  workmen's  candidatesliip  to 
the  bourgeois  candidates. 

From  that  '  moment,  the  sociah'st  movement, 
which  had  been  arrested  in  1852,  increased  in 
importance  day  by  day.  Proudhon  contributed 
to  this  by  his  writings,  M.  Tolain  by  his  in- 
telligence and  activity,  and  the  Government  by 
a  line  which  they  adopted  after  some  hesitation  ; 
that  of  exaggerating  the  strength  of  the  socialists 
in  their  journals  and  speeches,  and  throwing  the 
responsibility  of  socialist  doctrines  on  all  Repub- 
licans, in  order  to  put  themselves  forward  as  the 
sole  guardians  of  social  interests.  On  the  26th 
September,  1864,  M.  Tolain  went  to  London  with 
two  other  workmen  delegates,  to  be  present  at 
the  great  meeting  at  St.  Martin's  Hall,  where  the 
bases  of  the  International  Association  of  workmen 
were  laid.  On  his  return  he  established  the  office 
of  the  French  branch  in  the  Rue  de  Gravilliers, 
and  took  care  to  send  the  statutes  of  the  associa- 
tion to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  and  the  Prefect 
of  Police.  He  attended  as  delegate  of  the  French 
branch  at  the  subsequent  congresses  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, which  took  place  in  London  in  1865,  at 
Geneva  in  1866,  at  Lausanne  in  1867,  at  Brussels 
in  1868,  and  at  Basle  in  1860.  With  that  practical 
good  sense  which  has  always  distinguished  him  ou 

N  2 


180  TUE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

these  occasions,  lie  defeuded  the  rights  of  indi- 
vidual property  against  the  Communists,  who, 
however,  gained  the  preponderance,  and  fixed 
upon  the  International  Association — whose  aim 
had  been  for  the  three  first  years  but  ill- 
defined — the  character  of  a  political  association, 
with  the  claiming  of  political  rights  for  working 
men  for  its  immediate  object,  and  Communism 
for  a  theory. 

The  claiming  of  political  rights  for  working 
men  would  have  had  no  seasonableness  to  French 
citizens,  even  under  the  Empire,  if  it  had  been 
taken  in  its  literal  sense.  All  Frenchmen  possessed 
the  same  rights  both  civil  and  political;  the  work- 
men might  be  elected,  like  other  citizens  ;  no  one 
dreamed  of  contesting  this.  But  what  they  called 
by  that  name,  was  not  the  right  to  run  the 
same  chances  with  others  in  the  elections,  it  was 
the  right  of  having  a  direct  and  special  repre- 
sentation in  Parliament  ;  a  bench  of  workmen  in 
the  Corps  Législatif,  like  the  bench  of  bishops  in 
the  Senate.  This  was,  undeniably,  a  social  ques- 
tion ;  for  if  the  workman  be  elected  in  virtue  of  a 
common  right,  he  represents  equality,  but  if  he 
be  elected  because  he  is  a  workman,  and  under 
the  pretext  that  the  workmen  have  an  exceptional 
right  to  send  members  of  their  own  class  to  Parlia- 
ment, he  no  longer  represents  anything  except 


PAEIS   BEFOEE   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.       181 

the  contest  between  labour  and  capital.  In  1867, 
after  the  abortive  manifestation  of  the  2ncl 
November,  a  search  was  made  at  the  house  of 
M.  Chouteau — a  member  of  the  Central  Com- 
mittee in  1871 — and  the  statutes  of  a  secret 
society,  called  "  The  revolutionary  Commune  of 
the  workmen  of  Paris,"  were  brought  to  light. 

All  workmen  were  not  socialists,  and  all  social- 
ist workmen  did  not  belong  to  the  International 
Association,  which  derived  much  of  its  impor- 
tance from  the  alarm  with  which  it  inspired  the 
Conservative  party.  Nevertheless  it  grew.  A  bond 
of  union  was  naturally  formed  between  it  and 
communist  or  simply  socialist  writers,  who 
undertook  to  spread  the  opinions  of  Proudhon 
and  Blanqui,  by  means  of  pamphlets,  confer- 
ences, and  newspaper  articles.  The  non-socialist 
revolutionaries,  whose  dream  was  to  return  to 
the  principles  of  1791,  and  who  had  Delescluze 
for  their  ringleader,  could  only  succeed  with 
the  concurrence  of  the  workmen,  and  there- 
fore supported  them  in  their  revolt,  without 
associating  themselves  with  their  theories.  Pro- 
cessions to  the  tomb  of  Baudin,  who  died  for 
liberty  during  the  "  da3^s  of  December,"  and  the 
prosecutions  to  which  they  gave  rise,  cemented 
the  alliance.  Popular  meetings  at  which  attacks 
upon  the  Government  were  mingled  with  attacks 


182  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

upon  property,  and  wliicli  increased  in  number 
after  18C8,  brought  the  greater  part  of  tbe  men 
of  the  future  Commune  prominently  forward  : 
Peyrouton,  tbe  Gaillards,  father  and  son,  Longuet, 
Briosne,  Pindy  the  carpenter,  Yermorel,  Ducasse, 
Lefrancais,  and  Humbert.  M.  Félix  Pyat  had 
also  received  a  sentence  in  1863,  and  had  risen 
in  popular  favour  in  consequence.  Men  who 
were  for  agitation  by  the  press,  by  secret  societies, 
by  street  rows,  reappeared  on  every  side. 
Then  came  strikes,  menacing  combinations,  and 
violent  repressions.  The  troubles  of  Ricamarie 
left  behind  them  eleven  corpses  (nine  men  and 
two  women)  ;  the  scenes  at  Aubin  were  not  less 
disastrous. 

These  terrible  commentaries  upon  Communist 
doctrines  rendered  them  still  more  odious,  and 
the  Government,  faitliful  to  its  policy,  made  use 
of  them  against  its  enemies,  who,  for  the  most 
part,  repudiated  them,  and  held  them  in  horror. 
The  conservative  Republicans,  who  were  objects  of 
hatred  and  distrust  to  the  Communists,  did  not 
think  it  possible  for  public  opinion  to  be  deceived 
into  holding  them  responsible  for  anti-liberal 
doctrines  and  practices.  They  did  not  repu- 
diate the  libel  with  sufficient  energy,  and  it 
happened  that  they  gave  a  pretext  to  it  on 
more  than  one  occasion.     "While  the  Government 


PAKIS    BEFORE   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    187I.        183 

was  attributing  every  outbreak  of  disorder  and 
every  false  and  perverse  idea  to  them,  tliey  con- 
fined themselves  to  contemptuous  denials,  and 
so  great  was  their  need  of  allies,  that  they 
accepted,  not  indeed  compromising  alliances,  but 
questionable  approaches.  They  contested  the 
doctrines,  but  showed  too  much  indulgence  for 
the  men  who  held  them.  This  was  a  mistake, 
which  may  be  explained,  but  not  justified,  by  the 
violence  done  in  electoral  matters  by  the  Empire, 
its  manifold  abuses  of  authority,  its  financial 
scandals,  and  its  deplorable  foreign  policy 

In  1869,  at  the  elections,  however,  an  absolute 
and  final  separation  took  place.  The  revolu- 
tionists opposed  Jules  Favre  by  Eochfort,  Garnier- 
Pages  by  Raspail,  Jules  Simon  by  Vallès,  Glais- 
Bizoin  by  Barbes.  They  had  thought  of  bringing 
forward,  first  Ledru-RoUin,  and  then  Louis  Blanc, 
in  aU  the  arrondissements  ;  but  these  two  men 
seemed  "  hardly  pure  "  enough.  The  election 
of  their  candidates  was  to  be  preliminary  to 
the  rising.  Clearly  to  express  the  aim  they  had 
in  view,  and  although  E-ochefort  and  Raspail 
had  taken  the  oath,  they  called  their  candidates, 
"  the  unsworn."  M.  Lulher,  a  candidate  in  1869, 
and  afterwards  a  general  under  the  Commune, 
wrote  in  his  circular,  "  Danton  will  come  back 
from  the  Shades  I  "     M.  Maurice  Joly  demanded 


184  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP   M.   THIERS. 

for  tlie  people  the  right  of  opposing  the  promulga- 
tion of  the  laws,  election  for  one  year  only,  an 
imperative  mandate,  and  a  constituent  assembly. 
"  A  manifestation  is  expected  from  the  electors  of 
Paris,"  said  Lefrançais,  *'  which  will  bring  all 
France  to  herself  once  more."  Citizen  Lombard 
made  a  direct  attack  upon  the  deputies  of  the 
Left.  "We  have,"  he  said,  "to  name  four 
deputies  ;  what  advantage  will  it  be  to  us  to  have 
four  irreconcilable  deputies  the  more  ?  We  have 
seen  them — these  irreconcilable  deputies  :  the 
word  is  big,  but  the  deputies  are  very  little. 
What  have  they  done  ?  Nothing,  nothing,  nothing. 
Vote  for  an  unsworn  one,  without  troubling  your- 
selves about  anything  else  concerning  him  ;  vote, 
if  you  like,  for  the  poorest  and  most  obscure 
individual,  for  a  rag-picker  if  you  please  ;  but,  I 
beg  of  you,  let  him  be  one  who  has  not  taken  the 
oath.'' 

The  agitation  continued  after  the  elections, 
which  gave  the  victory  to  moderate  Repub- 
licans. The  Government  had  not  summoned  the 
Chambers  for  the  2Gth  of  October,  although 
legally  required  to  do  so.  M.  de  Kcratry  proposed 
to  his  colleagues  that  they  should  meet  without 
being  summoned,  present  themselves  formally  on 
the  26th  at  the  Palais  Bourbon,  and  hold  their 
first  sitting  there.   Here  was  an  opportunity  ready- 


PARIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1 87 1.        185 

made  for  the  ringleadei^s  ;  but  the  reaction  on  their 
side  also  promised  themselves  a  signal  triumph,  and 
not  without  reason.  The  conservative  Republicans 
nipped  the  manifestation  in  the  bud.  M.  Jules 
Simon  came  back  from  Naples  on  purpose.  "  I 
have  done  all  I  could,"  he  wrote  some  time  after, 
in  a  letter  which  was  made  public,  "that  there 
should  be  neither  any  movement,  nor  the  appear- 
ance of  any  movement,  on  the  26th;  if  my 
popularity  suffers  in  consequence,  as  you  say  it 
will,  so  much  the  worse  for  me,  and  so  much  the 
worse  for  the  cause  I  serve."  His  popularity  with 
his  own  party  did  not  suffer.  The  sensible  and 
moderate  Republicans  approved  highly  of  the  con- 
duct of  the  deputies.  It  was  otherwise  with  the 
revolutionary  party.  A  meeting  was  held  on  the 
Boulevard  Clichy  ;  Milliere  presided,  and  MM. 
Jules  Simon,  Pelletan,  Bancel,  and  Ferry,  were 
called  upon  "to  explain  themselves"  as  it  was 
called.  The  explanation  degenerated  at  once  into 
a  quarrel,  and  the  deputies,  seeing  the  discussion 
would  be  neither  free  nor  fair,  withdrew,  after 
having  entered  a  protest. 

Day  by  day  the  gulf  between  the  Revolutionists 
and  the  Liberals  widened.  MM.  Raspail  and 
Rochefort,  who  sat  with  the  Republican  group 
on  the  Left,  but  who  never  joined  their  meetings, 
and  were  not  even  on  terms  of  common  pohte- 


186      THE  GOVEENMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

ness  witli  the  members  composing  it,  introduced 
a  bill  on  the  8th  December  which  M.  Forcade 
de  la  Roquette  described  as  a  ridiculous  notion. 
"A  state  is  the  multiple  of  the  Commune,  the 
Commune  is  the  multiple  of  the  family.  The 
Municipal  Council,  which  is  elected  for  three  years, 
shall  nominate  the  Mayor  for  a  year.  In  a  case 
of  difference  between  two  Communes,  a  jury  of 
six  members  shall  judge  between  them  ;  if  be- 
tween two  arrondissements,  it  shall  be  submitted 
to  the  Legislative  Body. 

"The  Legislative  Body,  freely  elected  by  uni- 
versal suffrage,  is  the  Commune  of  the  Communes. 
,  .  .  Progressive  taxation  shall  replace  all  other 
taxation.  The  Legislative  Body  shall  annually 
fix  the  amount  of  the  taxes  ;  the  Commune  shall 
make  the  assessment. 

"  The  Legislative  Body  shall  nominate  the 
generals." 

The  ever-increasing  mob  of  revolutionists  and 
communists  were  wildly  excited  by  these  fine 
fancies. 

M.  Rochefort  was  the  idol  of  this  mob.  He 
had  it  completely  in  his  hands  on  the  day  of  the 
funeral  of  Victor  Noir. 

He  was  wise  enough  not  to  let  it  loose  on  Paris. 
A  word  from  him  was  sufficient  to  restrain  it  ;  no 
one  else,  except  perhaps  M.  Raspail,  would  have 


PAEIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH   MAKCH,    1 87 1.        187 

been  listened  to.  M.  Rocliefort  was  arrested 
some  days  afterwards,  under  circumstances  much 
to  be  deplored,  and  which  led  to  a  disturbance. 
M.  Flourens  illegally  arrested  a  commissary  of 
police;  Mégy  shot  a  pohce  agent.  The  police 
made  450  arrests.  The  Left  protested  against  a 
policy  of  provocation  and  repression  à  outrance, 
without,  however,  admitting  any  identification  of 
themselves  with  the  actors  or  their  principals.  "I 
do  not  understand,"  said  M.  OUivier  (15th  Feb- 
ruary, 1870),  "how  the  members  of  the  opposition, 
who  have  always  frankly  declared  that  their  poHcy 
was  not  a  revolutionary  policy,  how  men  who  so 
openly  and  freely  represent  the  legal  and  consti- 
tutional opposition,  associate  themselves  with  a 
policy  which  is  a  negation  of  and  a  satire  upon 
their  own  policy  as  well  as  ours."  The  Members 
of  the  Left  neither  associated  themselves  with 
the  policy  of  Flourens,  nor  with  the  crime  of 
Mégy  ;  but  they  claimed,  as  was  their  duty,  the 
protection  of  the  forms  of  law  even  for  the  men 
who  calumniated  and  condemned  them. 

What  had  they  in  common  with  the  doctrines 
and  conduct  of  Assi,  the  leader  of  the  strike  at 
Creuzot,  with  the  regicidal  speech  of  Félix  Pyat, 
at  the  anniversary  banquet  of  January  21st,  with 
the  attempted  assassination  by  Beaury,  with  the 
thirty-eight  accused  members  of  the  International, 


188      THE  GOVERNMENT  OP  M.  THIERS. 

and  tlie  seventy-two  men  accused  at  Tours  ?  It 
was  an  indelible  stain  upon  tlic  deputies  of  tlie 
Left,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Jacobins  and  Socialists, 
tliat  they  were  liberals,  and  bourgeois,  Republicans 
after  tlieir  own  manner,  not  tlie  right  one,  and 
partisans  of  equality  before  the  law,  which  by 
maintaining  property,  hereditary  succession,  and 
the  pretended  rights  of  capital,  allows  privileges 
to  subsist. 

At  the  sitting  of  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
International  Association  on  the  12th  of  January, 
1871,  it  was  proposed  to  the  Association  to  accept 
as  their  organ  La  Lutte  à  outrance,  a  journal 
founded  by  a  society  which  called  itself  a  repub- 
lican association;  Leo  Frankel,  an  important 
member  of  the  Federal  Council,  and  subsequently 
a  member  of  the  Commune,  said,  "  I  accept  La 
Lutte  à  outrance.  The  French  workman  (Frankel 
is  a  Prussian)  has  need  of  an  idol,  let  him  have 
one;  but  let  us  hate  and  fight  the  bourgeoisie 
with  him.  The  bourgeois  Hepublic  is  no  longer 
to  be  discussed;  La  Lutte  à  outrance  ought  to 
discuss  the  social  Republic."  All  these  men,  who 
were  afterwards  the  Commune,  Protot,  Milliere, 
Félix  Pyat,  Cournet,  Razoua,  Flourens,  Ferré, 
Fontaine,  Jaclard,  Gromier,  Mégy,  Sapia,  Tibaldi, 
Raoul  Rigault,  shared  Leo  Frankel's  contempt 
and  dishke  for  the  bourgeois  Republic.     Protot 


PAEIS   BEFORE    THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.        189 

and  Triton,  wlio  were  barristers,  Millière  a  doctor 
of  laws,  Félix  P^^at  a  literary  man,  Flourens  a 
tutor,  Raoul  Rigault  a  medical  student,  were 
enemies  of  the  bourgeoisie,  as  tlie  revolutionists 
of  1793  were  enemies  of  the  nobility;  the  deputies 
of  the  Left  were  odious  to  them  as  bourgeois,  or, 
what  was  the  same  thing  in  their  eyes,  as  enemies 
of  Socialism.  They  would  all  have  said,  with 
Tony  Moillin,  a  doctor,  who  became  one  of  the 
mayors  of  Paris  under  the  Commune,  "  The 
deputies  deceive  you  shamefully." 

The  wrath  of  these  men,  already  fierce  enough 
under  the  Empire,  grew  still  fiercer  after  the  4th 
September,  when  power  had  slipped  through  their 
fingers.  Lacord  said  at  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
Workmen's  Association  on  the  10th  June,  1871, 
"  The  working  men  ought  to  have  seized  the 
government  on  the  4th  September  ;  if  they  had 
done  their  duty,  the  31st  October  would  have 
turned  out  very  differently.  If  the  International 
had  had  a  newspaper,  it  would  have  killed  the 
Government."  Others  of  the  same  party,  if  not 
the  same  association,  had  newspapers,  by  whose 
aid  they  tried  to  "  kill  "  the  Government.  They 
never  ceased  during  the  siege  to  insist  that  the 
people  were  invincible,  that  in  order  to  raise  the 
blockade  of  Paris  it  was  only  necessary  to  put 
the   whole  National    Guard   in   action;  they  de- 


190  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP   M.   THTERS. 

manded  that  Flourens  should  be  made  governor 
of  Paris,  and  General-in-cliief  of  tlie  army;  they 
maintained,  even  at  the  moment  of  the  capitula- 
tion, that  we  had  an  army  intact  of  300,000 
men,  and  provisions  for  three  months,  nay, 
for  six.  Riots,  journals,  pamphlets,  handbills, 
declamatory  speeches  in  the  clubs,  the  streets, 
the  cafés,  and  the  guard-houses,  all  were 
employed  by  them  against  the  bourgeois  Govern- 
ment installed  at  the  Hôtel  de  Ville. 

ISTot  only  did  the  members  of  the  Commune 
not  spring  from  the  earth  on  the  18th  March, 
they  had  been  severally  known  by  their  names 
for  more  than  two  years,  their  influence  had  been 
felt  for  more  than  six  years;  their  object  and 
means  of  action  were  known  ;  the  repulses  they 
had  sustained  might  be  computed,  and  the  pro- 
gress of  their  strength  measured. 

Under  the  Empire  they  had  had  their  journals, 
their  clubs,  and  the  International  Association  ; 
a  small  group,  but  rendered  powerful  by  its 
organization.  For  the  accomplishment  of  their 
ends,  a  more  comprehensive  organization,  and  a 
more  definite  authority  were  requisite. 

When  the  National  Guard  was  reorganized, 
after  the  4th  September,  with  a  great  extension 
of  its  numbers,  these  persons  perceived  that  if 
they    could   establish   their   influence   with    that 


•PARTS    BEFOEE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1871.        191 

body  they  should  be  masters  of  the  Government, 
for  they  would  possess,  in  that  case,  both  numbers 
and  strength.  They  did  not  concern  themselves 
about  getting  rank  in  the  Guard  in  which  the 
"  steps  "  were  much  disputed,  and  indeed  created 
personal  influence,  instead  of  the  collective  in- 
fluence which  was  really  desirable.  They  tried 
to  get  into  the  existing  councils  of  the  National 
Guard,  and  to  form  new  ones.  Similar  efforts, 
made  by  others,  resulted  in  advantage  to  them. 
There  were  meetings  of  officers,  meetings  of  the 
majors,  Vigilance  Committees — committees  and 
meetings  were  in  fashion  just  then,  because  every- 
body wanted  to  make  speeches  and  manifestations, 
to  be  a  president  or  a  delegate.  The  future 
members  of  the  Commune  insinuated  themselves 
everywhere.  They  entered,  too,  into  those  com- 
mittees of  armament  and  the  family  councils, 
which  the  Government  itself  had  instituted  in 
each  company.  These  latter  councils,  charged 
with  administrative  details,  and  invested  with 
certain  disciplinary  powers,  had  rapidly  acquired 
influence,  which  preponderated  in  certain  bat- 
talions ;  and  to  this  the  authorities  themselves  had 
contributed  by  employing  them  as  paymasters. 
This  office  was  at  first  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  sectors,  who  knew  neither  the  officers 
nor  men,    and   had   neither  time   nor   means  to 


192  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

exercise  an  efficacious  control.  It  was  afterwards 
handed  over  to  the  mayors  of  arrondissements; 
but  the  same  difficulties  arose,  although  in  a 
minor  degree,  and  the  mayors,  overwhelmed  with 
other  business,  begged  to  be  exonerated  from 
this.  The  family  councils  were  better  qualified 
to  appreciate  the  wants  of  the  battalion,  and  to 
detect  frauds  ;  they  accepted  with  eagerness  a 
task  which  the  others  had  abandoned;  being 
paymasters,  they  speedily  became  masters  of  the 
men,  and  then  by  means  of  federation  they 
became  masters  of  the  battalion.  The  family 
council  absorbed  the  armament  and  vigilance 
committees  nearly  everywhere,  and  assumed  their 
functions.  The  arrondissements  also  had  vigi- 
lance committees,  which  had  been  suggested  by 
those  of  the  National  Guard,  but  had  greater 
power,  because  it  was  general  and  irresponsible. 
The  officers  were  reduced  in  a  few  weeks  to  being 
mere  instructors.  They  commanded  at  drill, 
indeed,  but  like  their  men,  they  were  subservient 
to  the  occult  authority  of  the  committees  and  the 
councils.  This  became  strikingly  evident  on  the 
31st  October,  when  several  battalions  came  to 
the  Hôtel  de  Ville,  with  drums  beating  and  led 
apparently  by  their  officers,  who  were,  however, 
devoted  adherents  of  the  Government.  The  men 
came  to  a  sudden  halt,  when  they  had  arrived  at 


PARIS   BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1 87 1.        193 

the  gate,  and  raising  tlie  butt-ends  of  tlieir  mus- 
kets, shouted,  "  No  Armistice  !  "  More  than 
one  officer,  appreciating  the  difference  between 
being  and  seeming,  between  authority  and  the 
mere  show  of  it,  relinquished  his  rank  that  he 
might  become  a  member  of  the  vigilance  com- 
mittee or  the  family  council.  The  idea  of  fede- 
ration between  the  battalions,  or  the  committees 
which  led  the  battalions,  was  suggested  by  the 
International  Association,  and  spread  rapidly.  All 
the  affiliated  were  aware  that  if  they  gave  the 
National  Guard  a  political  organization  outside 
its  military  one,  it  would  obtain  the  mastery  of 
Paris. 

The  federation  was  not  complete  all  at  once. 
In  its  case  also,  the  same  idea  had  arisen  in  more 
than  one  quarter  at  the  same  time.  The  Central 
Vigilance  Committee  gave  signs  of  life  before  any 
of  the  others.  It  had  existed  since  the  4th  Septem- 
ber, and  issued  proclamations  ;  they  were,  however, 
lost  in  the  multitude  of  such  things,  and  attracted 
public  attention  in  only  a  very  slight  degree. 

After  the  battle  of  Champigny  (2nd  December), 
the  Central  Committee  posted  a  demand  for  war 
à  outrance  and  the  impeachment  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  by  this  bold  stroke  took  the  lead. 
Thenceforward  it  called  itself  "  The  Republican 
Federation    of    the    National     Guard,"    to    dis- 

VOL.  T.  o 


194  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS, 

tingiiisli  itself  from  tlie  vigilance  committees 
of  the  arrondissements.  Twenty  days  later  it 
began  the  periodical  publication  of  its  red  placards, 
which  were  thenceforth  eagerly  perused  by  all 
those  who  made,  wished  for,  or  approved  of  the 
insurrection  of  the  31st  October.  The  Kepublican 
Federation  of  the  National  Guard  did  not  seek  the 
shelter  of  anonymity.  The  red  placards  were 
signed  by  members  of  the  Committee  ;  those  who 
signed  them  oftenest,  and  took  the  most  active 
part  in  drawing  them  up,  were  Bouis,  Barroud, 
Chouteau,  Fabre,  Gaudier,  Gouhier,  Grelier, 
Lavalette,  Moreau,  Pougeret,  Prudhomme,  and 
Eousseau. 

According  to  General  Vinoy,  the  Central  Com- 
mittee, which  led  the  insurrection  of  the  18th 
of  March,  originated  in  the  following  appeal  to  the 
National  Guard,  signed  Lemaitre,  and  which  was 
widely  distributed  : — 

"  Proposal  made  to  the  National  Guard  of  the 
Seine, 

"  With  the  view  of  securing  the  unity  of  action 
of  the  National  Guard  for  the  present  and  for  the 
future,  we  propose  immediately  to  establish  a 
committee  in  each  of  the  arrondissements  of  Paris, 
composed  of  one  guard  and  one  officer  from  every 
battahon.     Each  of  these  committees  shall  name  a 


PAEIS   BEFOEB   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.       195 

delegate,  and  these  delegates  united  shall  form  a 
central  committee,  to  deal  with  urgent  questions 
relating  to  the  thorough  organization  of  the 
National  Guard. 

"  This  new  organization  should  be  composed  as 
follows  : — 

"  Each  arrondissement  should  place  at  its  head 
a  naval  or  other  ofificer,  with  the  title  of  General  of 
the  arrondissement. 

"  The  generals  should  select  from  among  them- 
selves for  their  general-in-chief,  a  man  with  a 
strong  sense  of  his  duty,  and  of  the  responsibility 
to  devolve  upon  him  at  a  given  moment;  who 
would  have  this  colossal  army  of  citizens  in  his 
hands,  whether  to  prevent  us  from  falling  into  the 
snares  the  enemy  might  set  for  us  with  a  view 
to  the  occupation  of  Paris,  or  to  arrange  the 
final  fate  of  France. 

"  The  oflScers  of  the  14oth  battalion,  forming 
a  Preliminary  Commission. 

Lemaitre,  Commandant. 
Marotet,  Captain,  &c. 

"  Battalions  are  requested  to  signify  their  ap- 
proval without  delay,  and  to  send  in  the  names  of 
provisional  delegates. 

**  Café  of  the  National  Guard,  49,  Rue  de  Bre- 


tagne.' 


0  2 


196      THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

This  idea  was  not,  as  General  Vinoy  supposes, 
a  novel  one.  It  had  already  occurred  to  the 
members  of  the  Republican  Federation,  and  the 
position  of  Paris  after  the  capitulation  suggested 
the  same  project  to  many  groups  among  the 
citizens. 

On  the  15th  February,  one  Chalain,  a  man 
of  twenty-five  or  twenty- six  years  old,  a  turner 
by  trade,  and  a  member  of  the  International 
Association  and  of  the  Commune,  instigated  certain 
inhabitants  of  the  1 5th  arondissement  to  summon 
a  meeting  of  the  delegates  of  all  the  battalions  at 
the  Vaux-Hall.  The  meeting  was  adjourned, 
after  a  rambling  debate,  to  the  24th,  on  which  day 
no  less  than  2000  delegates  attended.  The  Repub- 
lican Federation  of  the  National  Guard,  which 
was  already  completely  organized,  came  in  large 
numbers.  They  proposed  statutes,  which  were, 
in  fact,  a  reproduction  of  their  own  ;  and  on 
the  whole,  the  two  meetings  convoked  by  Chalain 
served  only  to  increase  the  number  of  the  ad- 
herents of  the  Republican  Federation,  which  was 
thenceforward  known  as  the  Central  Committee. 

Apart  from  the  Federation,  and  consequently 
from  the  Central  Committee,  there  existed  at  this 
date  a  body  of  delegates  who  took  the  name 
of  the  Federal  Republican  Committee.  This 
consisted  at  first  merely  of  the  majors,  who  met  to 


PARIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1 87 1.        197 

discuss  the  question  of  pay  :  but  ojBScers  of  all 
ranks  joined,  and  after  a  short  time  the  asso- 
ciation took  a  poHtical  form.  The  meetings  took 
,  place  at  the  house  of  Lemardelay,  under  the  pre- 
sidency of  the  Count  du  Bisson,  who  had  first 
been  a  colonel  in  Cabrera's  army,  and  afterwards 
a  general  in  that  of  Ferdinand  IL  The  Count  was 
a  Legitimist  until  the  age  of  sixty,  but  we  shall 
presently  find  him  figuring  as  a  general  under 
the  Commune.  The  Central  Committee,  who 
wanted  to  govern  alone,  and  who  had  turned  Com- 
mandant Lemaitre's  proposal  and  the  meetings 
brought  about  by  Chalain  to  their  own  advantage, 
proposed  a  coalition. 

After  several  conferences,  delegates  were  named 
on  both  sides:  Bergeret,  Bourdier,  Chouteau, 
Courtry,  Pindy,  Varlin,  and  Viart,  for  the  Central 
Committee;  and  for  the  Federal  Committee,  Raoul 
du  Bisson,  Jaclard,  Tribalet,  Garcin,  Grêlier,  and 
a  sub-lieutenant  whose  name  has  not  been  dis- 
covered ;  and  an  agreement  was  concluded.  At 
a  general  meeting  on  the  3rd  March,  it  was  de- 
cided that  the  title  "  Republican  Federation  of  the 
National  Guard  "  should  be  revived.  The  complete 
title  of  the  famous  Central  Committee  was  thence- 
forth the  Central  Committee  of  the  Republican 
Federation  of  the  National  Guard.  It  retained  the 
premises  which  it  then  occupied  in  the  Rue  de  la 


198      THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIEES. 

Corderie,  and  the  meetings  at  the  house  of 
Lemardelay  were  discontinued.  On  the  3rd 
March,  it  adopted,  almost  without  discussion, 
statutes  in  ten  articles,  of  which  the  following  are 
the  chief  : — 

"  The  Republican  Federation  of  the  National 
Guard. 

"  Preliminary  declaration.  The  Republic  being 
the  only  Government,  cannot  by  right  of  justice 
be  subordinate  to  universal  suffrage,  which  is  its 
own  work. 

"  The  National  Guard  has  an  absolute  right  to 
nominate  all  its  chiefs,  and  to  dismiss  them  so 
soon  as  they  have  lost  the  confidence  of  those  who 
elected  them.  .  . 

"  1st  Article.  The  Repubhcan  Federation  of  the 
National  Guard,  is  organized  as  follows: — 

"  1st.  The  general  assembly  of  delegates  ; 
"  2nd.  Clubs  of  the  battahons. 
"  3rd.  The  Council  of  the  legion, 
•*  4th.  The  Central  Committee. 
"2nd  Article.  Thegeneral  assembly  is  formed  by: 
"1st.  A  delegate  elected  for  that  purpose  in 
each  company  without  distinction  of  rank; 
"  2nd.  An  officer  from  each  battalion,  elected 

by  the  officers. 
«  3rd.  The  Major. 
"  The    delegates,   whomsoever    they  may  be. 


PARIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.       199 

may  be  dismissed  by  those  wlio  have  nominated 
them. 

*'  3rd  Article.  The  Club   of    each  battalion    is 
formed  by: 

*'  1st.    The  delegate  of  the  general  assembly; 
*'  2nd.  Two   delegates    from  each   company, 

elected  without  distinction  of  rank  : 
*'  3rd.  The  officer  delegated  to  the  general 

assembly  ; 
«*4th.  The  Major. 
**4th   Article.  The  Council   of   the   legion    is 
formed  by  : 

"  1st.  Three  delegates  from  each  of  the  clubs 
of  the   battalions,  elected   without  dis- 
tinction of  rank; 
**  2nd.  The  majors  of  the  arrondissement. 
**  5th  Article.  The  Central  Committee  is  formed 
by: 

"  1st.  Three  delegates  from  each  arrondisse- 
ment, elected  without  distinction  of  rank 
by  the  Council  of  the  legion. 
"  2nd.  A  major  from  each  legion,  deputed  by 
his  colleagues." 
The    5th    Article    charged    the     Committees, 
among  other  functions,  "  to  prevent  any  attempt 
which   might  have  for  its  object   the  overthrow 
of  the  RepubUc,  and  to  draw  up  a  plan  for  the 
complete  reorganization  of  the  national  forces." 


200  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

In  addition  to  these  statutes,  the  meeting  pro- 
posed tlie  following  resolution  to  the  Committee  : 
"In  case,  as  certain  rumours  tend  to  make  us 
believe,  the  seat  of  Government  should  be  removed 
to  some  place  other  than  Paris,  the  city  of  Paris 
shall  at  once  constitute  itself  an  independent 
Republic." 

Nearly  two  hundred  and  fifteen  battalions 
joined  the  Federation,  and  sent  their  delegates 
with  reports  in  due  form,  bearing  the  signatures 
of  the  sergeant-majors,  to  a  meeting  which  took 
place  at  the  Vaux-Hall  on  the  13th  March.  At 
this  meeting  the  statutes  were  put  in  action,  by 
the  election  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  National 
Guard.  Garibaldi  was  appointed  to  be  general, 
Lullier  colonel  of  the  artillery,  Jaclard  and  Fallot 
majors. 

Thus  the  Central  Committee  is  associated,  by 
its  origin,  with  the  whole  revolutionary  and  social 
movement  since  the  election  of  1864.  It  absorbs 
the  former  Vigilance  Committee — which  was  also 
called  the  Central  Committee  and  the  Repub- 
lican Federation  of  the  National  Guard,  and 
which  published  red  placards  during  the  siege — 
the  Provisional  or  Central  Committee  of  the 
National  Guard,  founded  on  the  15th  February  at 
the  instigation  of  Chalain  and  several  citizens  of 
the   15th   arrondissement,  and   the   Federal   Re- 


PARIS   BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    187I.        201 

publican  Committee,  a  meeting  of  officers  whicli 
took  place  at  the  house  of  Lemardelay  under  the 
presidency  of  Raoul  du  Bisson.  It  receives  a 
regular  organization  at  the  two  meetings  of  the 
3rd  and  13th  March.  It  is  the  product  of  an 
election  in  four  stages,  with  this  distinction,  that 
the  electors  of  the  intermediate  stages,  remain 
formed  into  circles  and  committees,  subordinate  to 
the  Central  Committee,  and  transmitting  its  orders 
to  the  215  federate  battalions.  It  has  been  said 
that  this  Central  Committee,  which  effected  the 
revolution  of  the  18th  March,  was  composed  of 
unknown  men  ;  unknown  or  not,  its  members  were 
invested  with  formidable  powers,  and  had  been 
accustomed,  for  a  long  time  to  their  exercise.  The 
31st  October,  and  the  22nd  January  were  not 
so  completely  unexpected  as  has  been  supposed. 
These  revolts  were  suppressed  with  great  difficulty  ; 
they  were  suppressed,  however,  owing  to  causes 
which  it  is  important  to  recall,  precisely  because 
they  had  ceased  to  exist  at  the  epoch  with  which 
we  are  now  dealing. 

In  the  first  place,  the  final  organization  of  the 
revolutionary  forces  by  the  formation  of  a  single 
Central  Committee  does  not  date  further  back 
than  the  General  Assemblies  of  the  loth  February, 
and  the  3rd  and  13th  March. 

In  the  second  place,  until  the  capitulation,  all 


202  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

tlie  battalions  belonging  to  the  party  of  order  were 
at  the  full  strength  of  their  effective  force,  and 
they  more  than  counterbalanced  that  of  the 
revolutionary  party.  i 

In  the  third  place,  the  army  of  Paris  properly 
so-called,  the  regular  army,  the  Line,  obeyed  the 
Government. 

In  the  fourth  place,  during  the  siege  the  enemy 
had  to  be  faced,  there  existed  the  sense  of  a  great 
patriotic  duty  to  be  fulfilled,  hopes  of  victory  were 
Btill  cherished,  the  disgrace  of  capitulation,  and 
disarmament  had  not  been  incurred. 

We  have  just  seen  how  the  revolutionary  forces 
had  increased  since  the  termination  of  the  siege. 
It  will  be  easy  to  show  that  the  resisting  forces 
had  decreased  in  proportion. 

So  soon  as  the  gates  of  Paris  were  opened,  all 
those  who  had  the  means  of  leaving  the  city  has- 
tened to  rejoin  their  families.  The  report  made 
by  the  Staff  of  the  National  Guard  states  that, 
"  sixty  thousand  of  the  steadiest,  the  most  trust- 
worthy of  the  National  Guards,  of  those  whose 
interest  it  naturally  is  to  preserve  order,  have  left 
Paris  since  the  communications  have  been  re- 
opened." The  proportion  between  conservatives 
and  revolutionists  in  the  ranks  of  the  National 
Guard  was  entirely  changed  during  the  course  of 
the  month  of  February,  and  this  explains,  without 


PAEIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MAECH,    1 87 1.        203 

going  back  to  moral  causes,  why  the  call  to  arms 
in  what  were  termed  the  *'good"  quarters  of 
the  city,  did  not  produce  any  appreciable  result 
on  the  24th  February,  the  1st  March,  or  especially 
on  the  18th  March.  This  departure  en  masse j 
was,  under  such  circumstances,  more  than  abdi- 
cation, it  was  almost  comphcity.  M.  Jules  Favre 
has  asked  forgiveness  both  of  God  and  men  for 
having  worked  so  hard  to  hinder  the  disarmament 
of  the  National  Guard  ;  he  needs  no  pardon,  first, 
because  the  disarmament  was  impossible  at  the 
date  when  he  preserved  us  from  it  ;  and,  secondly, 
because  the  National  Guard  might  have  been 
allowed  to  retain  their  arms  without  any  danger, 
if  only  the  men  who  saved  the  Government  on 
the  31st  October  had  remained  at  their  post. 

Their  desertion,  is  not,  however,  to  be  explained 
only  by  their  desire  to  return  to  their  families, 
to  put  their  affairs  in  order,  to  seek  health  under 
a  more  clement  sky.  While  the  revolutionary 
party  was  advancing  towards  the  Commune,  its 
adversaries  did  not  know  whither  they  were 
drifting.  Among  these  adversaries,  the  Mon- 
archists were  aware  of  their  own  powerlessness, 
which  did  not  arise  solely  from  the  divisions 
among  themselves  ;  the  Republicans  were  angry 
and  disheartened.  Although  the  result  of  the 
siege,   which  had   lasted  beyond  all   hope,   had 


204}  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIEES. 

been  foreseen,  very  few  among  the  most  sensible 
and  enlightened  Republicans,  would  consent  to 
acknowledge  that  the  Government  had  but  yielded 
to  an  inevitable  necessity  in  giving  up  Paris  ;  and 
even  if  they  had  forgiven  the  capitulation,  they 
could  not  forgive  the  language  that  had  been 
used  during  the  conflict,  to  excite  the  courage  of 
the  combatants,  and  sustain  that  of  the  suffering 
inhabitants.  The  Government  was  charged  with 
the  whole  responsibility  of  the  defeat  ;  according 
to  the  fanatics  it  had  betrayed  the  country, 
according  to  the  moderate  party  it  had  been  in- 
capable. Three  hundred  thousand  men  armed,  the 
fortifications  completed,  cannon  cast,  the  provision- 
ing of  the  city,  revolts  suppressed,  order  main- 
tained ;  all  this  was  laid  to  the  credit  of  the  popu- 
lation :  the  Government  was  credited  with  defeat 
only.  M.Gambetta  alone  retained  his  prestige  ;  but 
M.  Gambetta  no  longer  formed  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment ;  he  had  taken  no  share  in  the  capitulation. 
The  majority  of  the  Assembly  at  Bordeaux  was 
monarchical  ;  it  had  placed  M.  Thiers  at  the  head 
of  the  Government  ;  M.  Thiers  who  had  served 
King  Louis  Philippe  for  eighteen  years  with  in- 
comparable ability.  How  could  they  feel  that  the 
Republic  was  safe  with  such  a  chief,  and  such  an 
Assembly?  More  than  one  Republican,  who  was 
neither  a  socialist  nor  a  revolutionist,  hesitated. 


PARIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1 87 1.        205 

They  asked  themselves  whether  in  fighting  for 
order  they  should  not  be  fighting  for  a  dynasty  also. 

The  Assembly  evinced  distrust  of  Paris  which 
some  of  its  members  carried  to  the  length  of 
hostility.  The  deputies  had  been  styled  "rustics,"  ' 
an  uncalled-for  taunt;  but  they  were  at  least 
provincials,  and  quite  determined  to  submit  no 
longer  to  the  sway  of  Paris  ;  M.  Thiers,  who  could 
do  almost  anything  with  them,  did  not  even 
attempt  the  impossible  task  of  taking  them  back 
to  the  Palais-Bourbon  ;  all  that  his  influence  and 
eloquence  could  obtain,  was  that  Versailles  rather 
than  Fontainebleau  should  be  chosen  for  the 
meeting  of  the  Assembly.  Thus,  as  the  reward 
of  her  courage  during  five  months  of  siege,  Paris 
was  declared  "  suspect  "  and  lost  her  rank  as  the 
capital  of  France  !  In  addition  to  these  griev- 
ances the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  had  heavy 
domestic  cares. 

The  workmen,  who  had  nothing  to  live  on  and 
keep  their  families  but  their  pay,  for  the  work- 
shops were  shut,  were  afraid  of  losing  that  last 
resource  now  that  peace  was  made,  and  the  small 
trades  people,  who  had  for  the  last  six  months  been 
spending  money,  but  making  none,  lacked  funds  and 
courage  to  reopen  their  shops  or  workshops,  with- 
out customers,  without  capital,  and  even,  in  many 
*  Euraux. 


206  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

cases,  without  implements,  for  all  had  been  ruined 
and  destroyed.  The  impossibility  of  gaining  a 
livelihood  was  trifling,  so  to  speak,  in  comparison 
with  the  impossibility  of  paying  former  debts,  of 
the  preservation  of  commercial  honour.  House- 
rents  were  due,  arrears  had  not  been  paid  up,  a 
remission  of  payment  was  demanded  ;  even  mode- 
rate and  sensible  persons,  who  were  aware  that 
the  Assembly  could  not  sacrifice  the  rights  of  tbe 
proprietors,  asked,  at  least,  for  a  long  delay. 
They  would  tax  their  ingenuity  to  the  utmost; 
they  would  borrow  money,  and  practise  the  most 
rigid  economy  ;  but  pay  at  once  they  could  not. 
It  was  the  same  with  commercial  bills.  The 
Government  of  Defence  had  granted  a  delay  ;  but 
its  term  had  now  expired,  and  an  act  was  required 
to  meet  this  emergency.  The  Assembly,  in  its 
sitting  of  the  10th  March,  at  Bordeaux,  had 
voted  an  act,  the  principal  clause  of  which  was 
as  follows  :  "  All  commercial  bills  due  fi'om  the 
13th  August  to  the  12th  November,  1870,  shall 
be  payable  seven  months  from  either  date  after 
maturity,  with  all  interest  tbereon,  after  the 
date  of  such  maturity.  Bills  of  the  13th  No- 
vember to  the  12th  April  next,  shall  be  pay- 
able from  either  date,  from  the  13th  June  to 
the  12th  of  July,  with  ail  interest  thereon, 
from   the   date   of  first  maturity."     This   enact- 


PARIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1871.       207 

ment  revealed  ignorance  of  the  true  extent  of 
the  evil.  The  bills  of  the  13th  August,  1870, 
became  due  on  the  13th  March,  1871,  the  very 
day  of  the  promulgation  of  the  act.  No  one 
was  in  a  position  to  meet  them.  Communications 
were  not  re-established  between  Paris  and  the 
departments,  the  branch  offices  of  the  Bank  were 
not  open,  commercial  transactions  were  impossible, 
bills  could  not  be  discounted.  From  the  13th  to 
the  17th  March  more  than  150,000  bills  were 
protested  in  Paris,  and  if  the  law  had  been  carried 
out  to  the  letter,  there  would  have  been  40,000 
bankruptcies.  Representations  were  made  on  all 
sides,  from  Lille,  Rouen,  and  Havre.  A  petition 
had  been  signed  by  the  bureaus  of  sixty  syndical 
chambers  in  Paris,  representing  7000  traders.  In 
the  interest  even  of  the  creditor,  which  does  not 
lie  in  incurring  useless  expense,  but  in  obtain  secu- 
rity for  his  loan,  a  longer  delay  was  indispenable. 
This  was  not  understood  until  later  ;  the  act  was 
reconstructed  on  the  27th  April,  under  less 
stringent  conditions  ;  but  on  the  10th  March, 
the  Assembly  had  lacked  foresight.  The  question 
of  house-rents  was  not  even  raised  at  Bordeaux, 
but  it  was  a  burning  one  in  all  the  places  which 
had  been  the  theatre  of  war,  and  above  all  in 
Paris,  where  the  siege  had  lasted  five  months, 
and  where  rents  are   so   high.       When,   at  the 


208  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

sitting  of  the  20th  March,  M.  Tirard  was  ques- 
tioned upon  the  cause  of  the  inaction  of  the 
National  Guard  of  the  2nd  arrondissement,  during 
the  17th  and  18th  March,  he  repHed  without 
hesitation  that  it  was  the  act  relating:  to  com- 
mercial  bills.  Nearly  every  one  in  Paris  was 
threatened  with  some  misfortune  ;  the  work- 
men with  losing  their  pay  as  national  guards, 
without  finding  w^ork  ;  lodgers  with  being  turned 
out,  and  having  their  furniture  seized  ;  commer- 
cial men  with  bankruptcy.  It  is  sad  to  relate, 
but  nevertheless  true,  that  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  peace,  it  was  Paris  which  had  the  most  to 
suffer,  after  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  The  great  city 
which  had  undergone  bombardment,  famine,  and 
the  ravages  of  an  epidemic  without  surrendering, 
and  whose  walls  were  intact,  was  condemned  to 
submit  to  the  insult  of  occupation  by  the  enemy. 
It  seemed  as  though  everything  were  to  be  done 
that  could  dishearten  the  prudent,  and  exasperate 
the  violent. 

The  profound  emotion,  mingled  with  shame  and 
anger,  that  had  been  caused  by  the  capitulation, 
grew  stronger  and  deeper.  It  did  not  lead  to  in- 
surrection at  first,  no  one  would  give  the  name  of 
insurrection  to  processions  of  drunken  workmen 
and  soldiers,  shouting  treachery  and  breathing 
vengeance  against  the  Prussians  and  the  Govern- 


PAEIS   BEFOEE  THE    i8tH   MAECH,    1 87 1.       209 

ment.  The  revictualling  of  tlie  city,  and  the 
approaching  elections  were  then  absorbing  all 
minds.  During  the  short  electoral  period  which 
immediately  ensued  the  violence  of  the  clubs 
knew  no  bounds.  The  attacks  upon  property 
and  upon  the  bourgeoisie  were  as  vehement 
as  those  upon  the  Government  of  National 
Defence.  Electoral  committees  were  formed  on 
all  sides,  and  in  prodigious  numbers.  A  marvel- 
lous number  of  candidates  offered  themselves. 
So  numerous  were  competitors  and  so  widely 
scattered  were  the  votes,  that  several  days  were 
consumed  in  the  reckoning,  545,600  electors 
having  taken  part  in  the  ballot. 

It  is  equally  painful  and  instructive  to  read  the 
electoral  placards.  Some  of  them  are  perverse, 
some  grotesque  ;  a  few,  happily,  are  bold  and 
spirited.  Here  is  one  which  might  well  have  been 
inspired  by  the  notorious  Central  Committee.  It 
is  printed  on  red  paper  : — 

"  Central  Committee, 
Revolutionary  and  Socialist, 

of  the  clubs  and  electoral  committees  of  the 
twenty  arrondissements  of  Paris. 

**  Whereas  Paris  did  not,  as  has  been  said, 
surrender  in  order  to  avoid  famine  ; 

"  Whereas  the  conduct  of  the  Government  of 
National  Defence  has  been,  since  the  4th  of  Sep- 

VOL.  I.  p 


210  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

tember,  a  succession  of  falsehoods  and  of  cowardly 
and  infamous  acts  ; 

"  Whereas  the  Government  had  no  right  to 
transact  any  capitulation  ; 

"  The  deputies  sent  to  Bordeaux  ought  : 

"  1st.  To  impeach  this  Government; 

"  2nd.  To  demand  war,  and  resign  rather  than 
enter  into  any  treaty  of  peace." 

This  placard  is  signed  by  Raoul  Rigault, 
Lavalette,  Tanguy,  and  Varlet.  A  list  follows  of 
forty-three  recommended  candidates,  all  of  whom, 
with  three  or  four  exceptions,  afterwards  made 
part  of  the  Commune. 

The  names  of  members  of  the  Government 
were  to  be  found  in  some  of  the  lists,  according  to 
the  caprice  of  those  who  had  drawn  them  up.  The 
Government  had  not  made  any  collective  list,  any 
profession  of  political  faith,  or  taken  any  measures. 
The  Liberal  (moderate)  committee,  whose  presi- 
dent was  M.  Dufaure,  had  systematically  excluded 
tbem,  not,  he  said,  because  he  was  hostile,  but 
to  avoid  weakening  their  authority  by  mixing 
up  their  names  in  electoral  discussions.  "  The 
names  of  the  members  of  the  National  Defence  do 
not  figure  upon  our  list.  The  committee  beg 
to  state  that  the  omission  must  not  be  taken  for 
condemnation  or  blame,  but  as  an  act  of  political 
foresight." 


PAEIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH   MAKCH,    1 87 1.       211 

"  The  lionourable  personages  whom  we  omit 
were  called  to  the  Government  of  Paris  and  of 
France,  on  the  4th  September,  by  necessity  :  on 
the  3rd  November,  by  the  immense  majority  in 
Paris  ;  it  was  understood  between  them  and  those 
who  gave  them  their  authority,  that  it  was  to  be 
exercised  by  them  until  it  should  be  confided  to 
other  hands  by  a  National  Assembly.  Their 
authority  must  be  maintained  all  the  more 
strictly  as  the  close  of  its  tenure  approaches  ;  and 
the  committee  are  of  opinion,  that  it  might 
come  out  of  an  electoral  contest,  in  which  the 
members  of  the  Government  would  be  engaged, 
weakened  or  compromised. 

"  In  the  name  of  the  Committee, 

"  DuFAURE,  President." 

This  act  of  "  political  foresight  "  did  not  save 
the  members  of  the  Government  from  vehement 
abuse.  When  the  contest  was  ended  by  the 
proclamation  of  the  returns,  the  Assembly  was 
in  existence,  and  the  authority  of  the  Govern- 
ment, for  which  their  own  party  had  shown  so 
much  solicitude,  had  no  longer  scope  for  its 
exercise.  Moreover,  it  is  probable  enough  that 
even  the  support  of  their  friends,  if  it  had  been 
given,  would  not  have  saved  them  from  a  defeat, 
which  was  noisily  hailed  by  the  socialists  as  a  con- 
demnation and  a  "  mark  of  contempt."     M.  Jules 

p  2 


212      THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

Favi^e,  who  was  elected  together  with  Messieurs 
Dorian  and  Gambetta,  believed,  on  the  10th 
February,  that  the  members  of  the  Government  of 
Paris  would  neither  be  elected  at  Paris  nor  else- 
where. He  wrote  to  M.  Jules  Simon  on  the  10th, 
at  eleven  p.m.,  "  The  confusion  has  been  so  great 
that  the  counting  is  not  yet  finished;  but  so 
far,  it  is  certain  that  not  one  member  of  the 
Government  has  been  elected.  This  makes  our 
position  a  very  difficult  one.  However,  we  shall 
try  to  get  out  of  it.  We  will  stay  at  our  posts  so 
long  as  it  is  necessary,  doing  all  we  can  to  hasten 
the  meeting  o.^  the  Assembly  and  facilitate  its 
setting  to  work.  At  the  present  moment,  the 
most  important  matter  is  to  obtain  a  prolongation 
of  the  armistice  from  Count  Bismarck.  I  shall 
see  him  to-morrow  for  that  purpose,  and  I 
am  not  without  uneasiness  as  to  the  impres- 
sion the  ballot  in  Paris  may  have  made  upon 
him." 

The  list  of  elected  candidates  was  not  published 
in  the  Journal  Officiel  until  the  18th  February. 
MM.  Louis  Blanc,  Victor  Hugo,  Gambetta, 
Garibaldi,  and  Quiuet  were  at  the  head.  M.  Louis 
Blanc  had  210,530  votes;  M.  Edgar  Quinet, 
199,472.  M.  Rochefort  came  after  him,  with 
165,670  votes.  Some  of  the  generals  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  during  the  siege  figured 


PARIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.       213 

among  the  forty- three  elected  candidates:  Admirals 
Saisset,  and  Potliuau,  and  General  Erebault. 
The  Government  of  Bordeaux  was  represented  by 
M.  Gambetta  only,  that  of  Paris  by  Messieurs  Jules 
Favre  and  Dorian.  M.  Dorian  was  elected  by 
128,480  votes  ;  M.  Jules  Favre  came  in  thirty- 
fourth,  with  81,722  votes.  M.  Thiers  (103,226 
votes)  was  only  twentieth.  There  were  a  few 
moderate  republicans  ;  M.  Henri  Martin,  M. 
Vacherot,  M.  Sauvage,  M.  Littré,  M.  Leon  Say, 
and  two  or  three  others.  The  future  members  of 
the  Commune  were  MM.  Delescluze  (154,142 
votes),  Felix  Pyat,  Gambon,  Ranc,  Malon,  and 
Cournet.  Paris  had  elected,  besides,  MM.  Roche- 
fort  and  Razoua;  and  lastly,  MM.  Lockroy, 
Clemenceau,  Floquet,  and  Millière,  who,  though 
they  did  not  belong  in  any  way  to  the  Commune, 
sent  in  their  resignation  after  the  commencement 
of  hostilities. 

The  revictualling  of  the  city  went  on  rapidly, 
but  still  too  slowly  for  the  needs  of  a  city  of  two 
millions  of  over  excited  inhabitants,  who  were 
suffering  from  hunger  and  cold,  and  excited  by  so 
many  causes.  London  contributed  to  what  may 
be  called  the  salvage  of  Paris  with  prompti- 
tude and  generosity  which  Paris  will  never 
forget.  M.  Jules  Favre,  in  his  fine  work  Le 
Gouvernement  de  la  Defence  Nationalet  states  that 


214  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

the  Prussians  willingly  facilitated  the  arrival  of 
provisions,  and  that  Count  Bismarck  gave  all  he 
had  at  his  disposal,  which  represented  subsistence 
for  us  for  a  day  and  a  half.  General  Vinoy 
affirms,  on  the  contrary,  that,  on  the  3rd  February, 
the  enemy,  being  apprised  of  M.  Gambetta's  pro- 
clamation againt  the  conclusion  of  the  armistice, 
stopped  the  convoys  of  provisions  everywhere  on 
their  way  to  Paris.  "  Nevertheless,"  adds  the 
general,  "  they  afterwards  consented  to  withdraw 
a  prohibition  which,  if  it  had  been  kept  in  force 
a  few  hours  longer,  might  have  led  to  deplorable 
consequences." 

The  general's  words  are,  "  a  few  houis  longer," 
not,  a  day  longer  ;  and  in  truth  Paris  was  reduced 
to  counting  by  hours.  The  provisions  which, 
according  to  Raoul  Rigault  and  the  hostile 
journals,  were  stored  in  abundance  in  the  city  at 
the  moment  of  capitulation,  were  in  fact  so  limited, 
that  the  inhabitants  were  kept  on  rations  until 
the  10th  February,  and  it  was  feared  that  they 
would  literally  want  bread. 

The  railroads  were  broken  up,  their  bridges 
were  shattered,  their  rolling  stock  dispersed  or 
useless,  and  their  staffs  disorganized.  Even  the 
river  had  been  barred  above  and  below  Rouen 
by  sunken  vessels  and  torpedoes  ;  it  would  take 
time    and    labour    to   render   it    navigable   once 


PAEIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.       215 

more.  The  Journal  Officiel  states  that  the  first 
train  laden  with  flour,  from  Rennes,  arrived 
on  the  Brd  February,  at  three  o'clock,  at  the 
Western  station  (Saint-Lazare).  The  same  day 
the  Orleans  line  brought  248  bullocks  from 
Cholet,  and  three  waggons  of  hay.  The  first  con- 
signment from  the  London  committee  also  arrived 
by  the  Northern  line.  It  consisted  of  condensed 
milk,  cheese,  bacon,  Liebig's  extract  of  meat,  water 
biscuits,  soup,  preserves,  &c.  On  the  4th  February, 
a  train  from  Lille  brought  6000  cwts.  of  flour 
and  a  waggon-load  of  coals.  From  that  time 
the  arrivals  succeeded  each  other  without  inter- 
ruption. But  the  purchase  of  provisions  in  their 
places  of  production  was  slow;  the  passage 
of  the  armies  had  impoverished  and  devastated 
the  country.  M.  Magnin  went  to  Dieppe  to 
expedite  the  proceedings. 

The  farmers  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Paris  had 
set  up  a  market  at  the  bridge  of  Neuilly  ;  crowds 
rushed  thither,  and  there  were  serious  disturb- 
ances, only  too  easily  explained  by  the  general 
suffering.  The  ordinary  peace-oflicers  did  not 
suffice  to  put  these  disturbances  down  ;  and 
recourse  was  had  to  the  gendarmerie,  who  could 
not  be  employed  so  near  the  outposts  without 
permission  from  the  Prussians.  Almost  all  the 
railroads  were  available  for  traffic  ;  but  there  were 


216  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

2,000,000  mouths  to  be  fed.  The  requisition  of 
corn  and  flour  had  been  stopped  on  the  7th 
February  in  the  expectation  of  more  rapid 
arrivals.  On  the  12th  February,  Belleville  was 
almost  destitute  of  bread  ;  the  bakers  having  re- 
ceived only  325  sacks  of  flour  instead  of  800.  The 
last  sacks  were  distributed  on  the  morning  of  the 
13th;  other  provisions  were  totally  exhausted. 
Providentially,  that  very  day,  the  13th  February, 
the  arrivals  of  flour,  which  had  been  very  slack  on 
the  ten  preceding  days,  were  numerous,  and  the 
quantity  of  flour  was  large  enough  to  put  an  end 
to  all  apprehension.  One  cannot  thmk,  without  a 
shudder,  of  the  calamities  the  delay  of  one  more 
day  must  have  occasioned.  A  week  later  the 
markets  of  the  town  had  almost  resumed  their 
usual  aspect.  Paris  had  food  again  ;  the  Central 
Committee  was  waiting  for  this  moment  to  appear 
upon  the  scene. 

It  was  in  fact,  as  will  be  remembered,  on  the 
15th  February,  that  the  appeal  to  the  National 
Guard  was  issued  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  15th 
arrondissement,  and  that  the  negotiations  for 
uniting  the  diff'erent  committees  in  one  single  fede- 
ration commenced.  On  the  IGth,  while  the  Assem- 
bly was  nominating  its  bureau,  General  Clément 
Thomas,  feeling  that  his  influence  with  the  National 
Guard  was  gone,  as  the  men  were  given  up  to  their 


PARIS   BEFORE   THE    i8th   MARCH,    1 87 1.       217 

committees,  and  not  wishing  to  retain  a  sham 
authority,  resigned  his  functions.  General  Vinoy, 
who  was  commanding  the  army  of  Paris,  was 
provisionally  appointed  to  the  command  of 
the  National  Guard.  This  choice  was  far  from 
being  a  popular  one.  "  He  is  a  senator  of 
the  Empire  !  "  was  said  at  the  meetings.  There 
was  no  less  outcry  against  General  Valentin, 
who  was  made  Prefect  of  Police,  and  against 
his  gendarmes.  The  appointment  of  M.  Thiers 
produced  great  anger,  for  he  was  regarded  as  a 
Monarchist;  and  a  similar  feeling  was  aroused 
by  the  presence  of  three  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Defence  in  the  new  Government. 
M.  Thiers  thought  to  satisfy  the  National 
Guard  by  giving  the  command  to  M.  d'Aurelles 
de  Paladines.  He  wi'ote  to  M.  Jules  Simon  on 
the  24th  February, — 

"  M.  Jules  Favre,  M.  Picard,  and  I,  have  made  a 
choice,  of  which  I  hope  you  will  approve,  for  the  com- 
mand of  the  National  Guard  of  Paris.  We  were  told 
the  measure  was  urgently  necessary,  and  we  were 
certainly  told  the  truth.  I  have  the  consent  of 
General  Vinoy,  who  conducts  himself  marvellously 
well  here,  and  has  the  confidence  of  all.  The  choice 
of  which  I  speak  is  that  of  General  d'Aurelles  de 
Paladines,  who  is  much  esteemed  everywhere,  and 
particularly  here,  because  he  alone  gained  an  in- 


218  TUE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

contestable  advantage  at  Coulmiers.  He  has 
consented  upon  reflection,  but  on  one  condition, 
that  he  is  not  to  take  the  command  until  after  the 
solution  of  a  question  which  is  occupying  every  one 
here,  the  passage  of  the  Prussians  through  Paris. 
The  question  is  not  solved,  and  the  proposals  of 
the  journals,  the  manifestations  of  certain  of  our 
friends,  are  far  from  facilitating  its  solution. 
The  opinion  of  competent  persons  is  that  the 
question  is  not  so  grave  as  it  is  made  out  to  be. 
But  the  bravado  on  a  certain  side  is  irritating 
Prussian  amour-propre  to  the  highest  pitch,  and 
embarrassing  us  greatly. 

"  We,  Jules  Favre,  Picard,  and  I,  should  have 
much  liked  to  have  been  able  to  consult  you  upon 
the  choice  of  General  d'Aurelles,  but  we  were 
obliged  to  make  up  our  minds,  the  urgency  being 
made  evident  here,  and  the  local  authorities 
pressing  us,  by  declaring  that  Paris  was  left 
ungoverned.  They  were  greatly  reassured  by 
the  hope  of  a  wise  selection  :  above  all,  the  can- 
didate is  irreproachable,  and  is  in  Paris,  on  the 
scene  of  action." 

M.  Thiers  deceived  himself  in  thinking  the 
appointment  of  General  d'Aurelles  would  be  well 
received.  The  battle  of  Coulmiers  was  forgotten, 
while  D'Aurelles  de  Paladines  was  remembered  as 
the  general  whom   M.  Gambetta  had  dismissed. 


PARIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.       219 

Any  other  choice  would  have  been  received  with 
equal  disfavour.  The  National  Guard  wanted  to 
elect  their  own  chief,  all  their  chiefs,  and  declared 
through  their  committee,  that  they  had  *'  the 
absolute  right  "  to  do  so.  On  the  18th  February, 
the  enemy,  who  were  in  possession  of  the  forts, 
wheeled  the  guns  round  so  as  to  direct  all  the 
artillery  upon  the  enceinte,  in  case  peace  should  not 
be  concluded.  This  superfluous  and  untimely  de- 
monstration excited  great  indignation,  not  against 
the  Prussians,  but  against  the  Government  of 
Defence,  *'  who  had  given  us  up,"  and  against  the 
Assembly,  its  accomplice  in  treason.  The  people 
must  always  have  a  victim  and  an  idol.  In  Feb- 
ruary its  victim  was  the  Government  of  Defence. 
They  were  so  angry  with  the  Government  that 
they  forgot  to  hate  the  Prussians.  One  measure 
of  economy,  in  itself  wise,  was  very  ill  received. 
On  the  19th,  the  pay  of  one  franc  and  a  half,  until 
then  allowed  to  all  workmen  serving  in  the 
JSTational  Guard,  ceased  to  be  granted  as  of  right 
by  the  family  councils  of  the  companies.  To 
obtain  it,  a  man  had  to  make  his  demand  in  writing, 
and  to  prove  that  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to 
get  work.  At  the  same  time  it  was  rumoured  in 
the  battalions  that  the  Prussians  were  to  enter 
Paris,  and  that  the  Assembly  was  going  to  transfer 
the  seat  of  Government    elsewhere.      The    com- 


220  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

mercial  bills  act  gave  offence;  that  on  house- 
rents,  wliich  was  impatiently  expected,  was  not 
under  discussion. 

The  agitation  in  the  populous  quarters,  Belleville 
and  Montmartre,  increased;  noisy  and  threaten- 
ing crowds  paraded  the  streets.  The  24th  February 
seemed  opportune  for  a  grand  demonstration.  In 
a  meeting  held  at  the  Vaux  Hall,  it  was  decided 
that  the  federated  battalions  should  march,  under 
arms,  to  the  column  of  July,  shouting,  Vive  la  Be- 
publique!  On  the  same  occasion,  two  important 
resolutions  were  taken  :  the  first  was  in  these 
terms,  *'  The  National  Guard,  through  the  medium 
of  their  Central  Committee,  protest  against  all 
attempt  at  disarming  them,  and  declare  that  they 
will  resist  it,  if  necessary,  by  arms."  The  second 
resolution,  adopted  in  spite  of  the  strong  pro- 
test of  the  reasonable  portion  of  the  meeting, 
was  that  the  delegates  should  submit  the  following 
proposal  to  their  companies  : — "  At  the  moment 
when  the  Prussians  enter  Paris,  the  National 
Guard  shall  go  forward  to  meet  them,  and 
oppose  an  armed  resistance."  The  precise  day 
of  the  enemy's  entry  was  not  known;  it  was 
generally  thought  it  would  be  the  27th.  Mean- 
while numbers  might  be  counted  by  a  pacific 
demonstration  on  the  24th.  The  watch- word  was 
immediately  given  at  the  clubs. 


PAEIS   BEFORE   THE    iStH   MARCH,    187I.       221 

On  the  24tli,  the  concourse  round  the  column 
of  July  was  considerable.  Soldiers  and  sailors 
were  to  be  seen  in  the  crowd.  The  peace-ojQBcers 
who  were  on  duty,  unarmed,  were  hooted  and 
hissed;  that  day,  however,  passed  over  without 
any  incident  of  graver  importance. 

The  morning  of  the  next  day  was  tolerably 
quiet.  It  was  about  two  o'clock  when  the  crowd 
began  to  collect.  At  three  nearly  3000  persons 
were  counted  in  the  square.  The  deputations 
from  the  National  Guard  carried  wreaths  of 
immortelles.  Some  came  in  corps,  headed  by  their 
officers,  and  preceded  by  bugles  or  drums.  The 
arrival  of  2000  men  of  the  Garde  Mobile  of  the 
Seine  was  hailed  with  loud  acclamations  ;  buglers 
sounded  the  charge  from  the  platform  of  the 
column.  A  battahon  of  light  infantry,  with  the 
number  137  on  their  képis,  marched  in.  The 
crowd  was  more  turbulent  and  ill-disposed  than 
on  the  day  before.  In  the  evening  the  excite- 
ment rose  high.  Several  well-dressed  women 
were  pursued  ;  the  peace-officers  were  compelled 
to  hide  themselves.  The  crowd  did  not  disperse 
until  ten  o'clock. 

Two  deplorable  incidents  marked  this  day,  the 
26th  February.  At  one  o'clock  the  red  flag  was 
hoisted  upon  the  column  of  July,  at  three  o'clock 
a  police  agent  in  plain  clothes,  named  Vincenzini, 


222  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

was  recognized  and  pursued.  He  fled  as  fast 
as  Ws  legs  could  carry  him,  but  was  caught 
upon  the  quay,  seized  by  artillery-men,  sailors, 
and  light  infantry,  and  dragged  to  the  parapet. 
"  Throw  him  into  the  water  !"  cried  the  mob, 
amono:  which  were  numbers  of  women.  He  was 
tied  to  a  plank  and  thrown  into  the  river.  The 
plank  floated  and  the  unhappy  man  begged  for 
mercy,  but  he  was  stoned  to  death. 

The  Central  Committee  had  succeeded  in 
reckoning  its  forces;  it  had,  so  to  speak,  held 
a  review  of  them  on  the  Place  de  la  Bastille.  It 
now  turned  its  attention  to  another  object  :  the 
battalions  had  only  muskets,  and  very  few 
cartridges  ;  the  Committee  wanted  to  give  them 
ammunition  and  artillery  ;  and  for  that  the  entry 
of  the  Prussians  furnished  a  pretext.  The  Com- 
mittee had  probably  perceived  the  absurdity  of 
attempting  a  conflict  with  the  Prussian  army  from 
the  first,  but  intended  to  profit  by  the  agitation 
to  complete  the  armament  of  the  future  insurrec- 
tion. The  idea  thrown  out  at  the  Vaux  Hall 
meeting  had  been  ardently  taken  up,  and  during 
the  last  two  days  of  February  nothing  was  thought 
of  but  fighting.  Cannon  "  belonging  to  the 
National  Guard,  for  they  had  paid  for  them  with 
their  own  money  "  by  voluntary  subscriptions 
during  the  siege,  were  posted  at  Neuilly,  and  in 


PAKIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.       223 

tlie  Avenue  de  Wagram,  on  the  route  which  the 
Prussians  were  to  follow. 

*'  Impossible  to  let  them  be  taken  by  the 
enemy  !  "  this  was  the  uppermost  idea  in  all  the 
battalions.  The  tocsin  was  rung  by  order  of 
the  Central  Committee,  and  the  companies  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  place  "  the  people's  artillery  " 
in  safety.  They  met  with  no  resistance.  The 
artillery-men  in  charge  of  the  cannon  lent  a 
willing  hand  to  the  work.  At  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  the  first  comers  harnessed  themselves  to 
the  guns,  and  began  to  drag  them  towards  the  fau- 
bourgs, crossing  the  Place  de  la  Bastille,  which  was 
still  crowded.  The  cannon  thus  captured  were 
placed  in  the  Place  des  Vosges,  at  Belleville,  at  the 
Buttes-Chaumont,  at  Charonne,  at  La  Villette,  and 
at  Montmartre.  The  despatches  sent  to  M.  Thiers 
by  the  generals  during  the  night  were  alarming  : — 

"  9.20  p.m. 

*'  They  are  beating  to  quarters  in  Belleville  ; 
the  battalions  are  getting  under  arms." 

"11.40  p.m. 

"  Two  thousand  of  the  National  Guard,  armed 
and  provided  with  cartridges,  are  assembled  on 
the  boulevard  of  Belleville;  the  drummers  say 
the  rendezvous  is  Place  du  Château  d'Eau. 
Orders  are  given  by  the  Central  Committee,  which 
is  sitting  in  the  Rue  de  la  Corderie." 


224  THE   GOVERNMENT  OP   M.   THIEKS. 

"11.50  p.m. 

"  The  park  of  artillery  at  La  Muette  has  been 
carried  off,  the  guns  are  being  taken  to  the 
Trocadero  and  the  Champ  de  Mars.  The  meeting 
of  La  Marseillaise  has  resolved  to  oppose  the  entry 
of  the  Prussians  by  force,  and  is  awaiting  orders 
from  the  Central  Committee  at  the  Rue  de  la 
Corderie." 

«  11.50  p.m. 

"  The  battalions  are  assembling  under  arms,  and 
say  they  intend  to  oppose  the  entry  of  the  Prus- 
sians. The  excitement  is  great  ;  the  movement 
is  essentially  patriotic,  and  directed  solely  against 
the  enemy.  The  prolongation  of  the  armistice 
will  suspend  this  movement;  but  it  will  cer- 
tainly be  revived  if  the  Prussians  enter  Paris.  Is 
there  not  real  danger  in  this,  and  would  it  not  be 
well  to  take  it  into  account  in  the  negotiations  ?  '* 

This  is  on  the  26th  February,  from  the  general 
commanding  the  sixth  zone  to  M.  Thiers. 
M  Thiers  had  arrived  at  Paris  on  the  20th  ;  be- 
tween the  20th  and  the  26th  he  had  nego- 
tiated the  peace  with  Count  Bismarck  ;  the  sup- 
plementary convention  regulating  the  entry  of  the 
Prussians  into  Paris  bears  date  the  26th.  The 
negotiators  had  not  failed  to  warn  Count  Bis- 
marck ;  they  knew,  only  too  well,  the  disordered 
state  Paris  was  in;    he  himself  was   disturbed. 


PAEIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1871.       225 

but  he  declared  that  he  was  unable  to  resist  the 
will  of  the  Prussian  army  on  this  point.  M. 
Thiers  had  to  set  out  for  Bordeaux  on  the  27th, 
there  to  face  the  conflicts  of  the  Assembly, 
not  knowing  but  that  Paris  might  be  deluged 
with  blood.  The  processions,  begun  on  the  24th 
February,  lasted  until  the  1st  March.  That  the 
National  Guard  would  oppose  the  entry  of  the 
Prussians  by  a  regular  battle  was  neither  probable 
nor  possible  ;  a  partial  attack,  one  isolated  act  of 
folly,  would,  however,  be  enough  to  bring  about 
a  catastrophe. 

The  carrying  off  of  the  cannon  by  the  federate 
battalions  was  completed  during  the  27th  and 
28th  February.  The  authorities  were  unable  to 
prevent  this,  for  they  had  no  longer  any  forces  at 
their  disposal,  but  they  endeavoured  to  obtain 
that  each  battalion  should  only  take  those  guns 
which  it  had  given,  hoping,  by  this  means,  to 
save  the  cannon  formerly  given  by  the  wealthy 
quarters  ;  but  the  Central  Committee  would  not 
permit  the  non-federal  battalions  to  have  any 
artillery.  It  employed  itself  with  perseverance, 
and  not  without  intelligence,  in  accumulating 
engines  of  war  and  ammunition.  It  instigated 
the  crowd,  which  was  acting  at  random,  to  pillage 
the  bastions  and  the  powder  factories,  for  the 
purpose   of    procuring   powder   and   ball.       The 

VOL.  I.  Q 


226  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

Committee  ordered  their  muskets  to  be  taken 
from  custom-liouse  officials  and  tlie  collectors 
of  the  town-dues  (octroi),  at  their  posts,  and 
at  the  railway  stations  where  they  were 
quartered. 

The  general  commanding  the  second  zone, 
having  tried  to  oppose  this  pillage,  was  arrested 
and  kept  under  ward. 

The  Prefect  of  Police  to  the  General-in-chief. 

"February  27th,  7  a.m. 

*'  The  general  commanding  the  second  zone 
is  a  prisoner  there,  the  telegraph  wires  have 
been  cut  ;  the  National  Guards,  wherever  they 
show  themselves,  advance  the  same  pretext  ; 
they  want  cartridges,  that  they  may  oppose  the 
entry  of  the  Prussians." 

The  Central  Committee  was  making  ready 
for  war,  but  not  for  war  upon  the  Prussiaus. 
Ammunition  marked  7  was  placed  with  pieces 
of  the  same  calibre,  and  cartridges  for  chassepots 
were  divided  from  cartridges  for  breech-loaders. 
The  keys  of  the  powder-magazines  were  taken,  by 
violence  if  necessary.  The  guns  of  bastion  36 
were  replaced  upon  their  carriages,  in  violation 
of  the  fifth  clause  of  the  conveution.  A  battery 
of  six  pieces  was  seb  before  the  gate  of  La  Chapelle. 
For  the  protection  of  the  artillery  collected  upon 
the  heights  of  Montmartre,  the  Committee   had 


PAEIS   BEFORE   THE    i8tH    MARCH,    187I.        227 

ordered  barricades  to  be  erected  in  all  the  neigh- 
bouring streets.  So  httle  did  it  conceal  its  pre- 
sence and  its  authority,  that  two  officers  who  pre- 
sented themselves  before  the  general  commanding 
the  quarter,  to  demand  ammunition,  produced  a 
written  order  by  the  Central  Committee.  The 
movement,  being  spread  over  the  whole  city,  was 
necessarily  irregular,  but  the  traces  of  a  guiding 
authority  were  clearly  to  be  recognized  :  the  Central 
Committee  was  making,  according  to  its  fashion, 
order  by  disorder. 

The  nights  of  the  27th  and  28th  were  not  more 
tranquil  than  the  days.  During  the  night  of  the 
27th,  several  bands,  each  composed  of  about  500 
men,  flocked  to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  and  up 
the  Champs  Elysees,  because  it  was  believed  the 
enemy  were  coming.  General  Yinoy  estimates 
these  bands  at  3000  men  ;  he  says  that,  on  the 
night  of  the  27th,  8000  armed  men  were 
continually  afoot  in  the  diflerent  quarters  of 
Paris. 

No  murder  except  that  ofVincenzini  is  recorded. 
Three  Prussians  were  recognized  in  a  carriage, 
in  the  Eue  Turbigo,  and  pursued  by  the  crowd, 
amidst  cries  of,  "  To  the  water  !  "  An  officer 
saved  them,  by  taking  upon  himself  to  conduct 
them  to  the  Central  Committee,  in  the  Rue  de  la 
Corderie.      At   the   railway   stations   there    were 

Q  2 


228  THE   GOVERNMENT  OP   M.   THIERS. 

serious  disturbances,  besides  the  carrying  off  of  tlie 
muskets.  The  trains  were  ransacked  and  sent 
back.  The  workmen  belonging  to  the  Northern 
railway,  to  the  number  of  1100,  were  stopped, 
as  they  came  up  to  their  workshops,  and  made 
to  work  at  the  barricades  and  at  mounting 
the  cannon.  The  meeting  held  at  La  Marseillaise 
had  appointed  a  certain  Darras  General-in-chief 
of  the  National  Guard;  he  was  scarcely  heard 
of  afterwards.  A  more  serious  matter  was 
the  liberation  of  Brunei  and  Piazza,  who  had 
been  locked  up  at  Sainte-Pélagie  since  the  22nd 
February,  and  who  were  chaired  by  the  crowd. 
They  afterwards  became  personages  of  importance 
in  the  army  of  the  Commune. 

On  reading  of  these  occurrences,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  ask  oneself,  what  were  the  authorities  doing? 
Everywhere  complaints  were  made  of  their 
weakness,  and  they  are  bitterly  reproached 
with  it  still.  What  a  mistake  it  was  to  let  the 
cannon  be  taken  !  No  one  asks  whether  the 
authorities  had  any  means  of  preventing  the 
seizure.  The  authorities  were  weak,  no  doubt; 
the  question  is,  were  they  so  through  their  own 
fault  or  through  that  of  their  position  ?  M.  Ernest 
Picard,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  was  a  man  of 
great  decision  of  character  and  of  stout  heart  ; 
M.  Jules  Ferry  had  proved,  on  two  memorable 


PARIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1 87 1.        229 

occasions,  that  he  could  brave  peril  both  to  his 
person  and  his  popularity  ;  General  Vinoy,  the 
Govern  or- General  of  Paris,  is  an  energetic  officer 
who  likes  fighting  without  quarter  better  tlian 
submission.  But  what  can  a  few  stout-hearted 
men  do,  when  they  are  completely  disarmed  ?  The 
authorities,  who  found  themselves  confronted  by 
the  Central  Committee  and  the  Federals,  knew,  as 
others  before  them  had  known,  all  the  horrors 
of  civil  war  during  the  siege;  and  in  the  then 
state  of  the  National  Guard  and  the  army,  they 
felt  they  could  not  attempt  vigorous  measures 
without  running  the  risk  of  a  civil  war,  in  which 
they  should  get  the  worst  of  it. 

Those  battalions  of  the  National  Guard  which 
were  called  "  good,"  worn  out  by  the  siege,  over- 
whelmed with  grief  and  shame  at  the  capitulation, 
reassured  but  slightly  by  the  composition  of  the 
Government,  decimated,  moreover,  by  the  depar- 
ture of  60,000  men  of  their  effective  strength  for 
the  departments,  did  not  respond,  or  responded 
in  only  insignificant  numbers  to  the  repeated  call 
to  arms. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  National  Guards  did 
not  come,  because  they  had  been  refused  a  suf- 
ficient quantity  of  ammunition.  The  distribution 
of  cartridges  was  made  with  caution,  because  it 
was  not  desirable  either  to  waste  them  or  give 


230  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

tliem  to  suspected  persons.  Wlio  has  ever 
imagined  that  if  the  National  Guard  had  come 
forward,  all  the  ammunition  at  command  would 
not  have  been  distributed  to  them  ?  AYe  must 
not  palter  with  history.  The  truth  is,  that,  at 
this  time,  three  parts  of  the  National  Guard 
were  infected  with  a  spirit  of  mutiny,  and  the 
rest  were  utterly  disheartened.  If  the  correctness 
of  this  proportion  between  the  good  battalions 
and  the  bad  is  denied,  it  is  because  the  number 
who  were  absent  is  forgotten.  The  cadres  of  even 
the  orderly  battalions  were  disorganized. 

The  two  or  three  men  who  alone  represented  the 
Government  of  Paris,  did  not,  themselves,  know 
how  utterly  the  National  Guard  would  fail  them. 
They  believed,  up  to  the  last  moment,  that  the 
men  would  rouse  themselves  when  they  under- 
stood the  magnitude  of  the  danger.  They  were  not 
aware  of  the  enormous  number  of  absentees,  and 
this  was  the  most  serious  evil.  It  was  thought- 
less and  unpatriotic  desertion,  at  the  moment 
of  the  greatest  danger,  which  gave  the  victory 
to  the  Central  Committee,  and  soon  after  to  the 
Commune. 

During  the  occupation  of  the  Champs  Elysées 
by  the  Prussians,  the  Government  endeavoured 
by  beat  of  drum  to  rally  round  them  a  cordon 
of  the  National  Guards;    but  no  one  appeared. 


PABIS    BEFORE    THE    iSlH    MARCH,    1 87 1.        231 

High  pay  was  offered,  but  in  vain.  Yet  the 
"  good  "  battalions  were  still  believed  in.  On  the 
day  of  the  evacuation,  when  the  Gobelins  was 
seriously  threatened  on  account  of  a  considerable 
quantity  of  ammunition  stored  in  the  manu- 
factory, and  which  the  Central  Committee  wanted 
to  seize,  M.  Jules  Favre  would  not  have  recourse 
to  the  troops  of  the  line,  for  he  still  relied 
"upon  the  good  battalions."  M.  Thiers,  on  being 
consulted  by  telegraph,  was  of  the  same  mind. 
He  replied,  from  Bordeaux,  "  It  is  impossible  but 
that  the  National  Guard  will  interpose,  at  the 
proper  time,  and  put  an  end  to  the  disturbances 
which  disquiet  us."  Some  days  later,  on  the 
17th  March,  during  the  whole  of  the  afternoon 
and  part  of  the  night,  the  drums  beat  to  arms 
in  those  quarters  which  were  most  favourable 
to  order;  but  there  was  no  response.  This 
resource,  the  good  National  Guard,  the  best  of 
all,  for  it  had  often  put  an  end  to  insurrections 
by  its  mere  presence,  now  utterly  failed  the 
authorities. 

The  "  guardians  of  the  peace,"  as  they  had 
been  called  since  the  4th  September,  formerly 
called  "  serjents  de  ville,"  had  been  formed  into 
regiments  during  the  war  ;  they  made  up  a  body  of 
some  imjDortance.  But  they  had  been  disarmed, 
like  the  rest  of  the  army,  since  the  armistice,  and 


232  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

tliey  were,  besides,  objects  of  an  especial  Hatred 
to  the  population  of  the  suburbs  ;  they  could  not 
show  themselves  in  a  crowd  without  being  in- 
sulted, chased,  and  ill-treated.  Their  number 
was  not  great  enough  to  oppose  to  armed  bands. 
It  would  have  been  impossible  for  them  to  make 
an  arrest,  and  especially  to  arrest  the  leaders  of 
the  movement,  protected  and  defended  as  they 
were  by  body-guards  who  allowed  no  one  to 
approach  them. 

As  for  the  army,  there  were  two  different  phases 
in  its  position.  Up  to  the  15th  March,  the  army 
of  Paris,  that  which  had  arms,  at  least,  consisted  of 
15,000  men  (Faron's  division  and  the  gendarmes). 
The  other  soldiers  in  Paris  were  those  who  had 
fought  during  the  siege,  and  had  just  been  disarmed 
according  to  the  terms  of  the  armistice.  The 
total  of  the  effective  strength  was  243,000  men. 
Deducting  the  12,000  of  Faron's  division,  and  the 
3000  gendarmes  who  had  kept  their  arms, they  may 
be  said  to  have  formed  a  mass  of  about  225,000 
men  ;  a  mass,  not  an  army,  a  mass,  moreover, 
in  process  of  dissolution,  since  it  inchided  103,000 
gardes  mobiles,  men  engaged  for  the  period  of  tho 
war,  discharged  soldiers  who  had  been  recalled, 
and  those  who  would  be  exempt  from  service 
early  in  1871.  The  latter,  whose  time  of  service 
had    now     nearly    expired,     were    so    far    from 


PAEIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1 87 1.        233 

trustworthy,  tliat  it  was  of  great  importance  for 
the  maintenance  of  order  they  should  be  disbanded 
as  quickly  as  possible.  The  mobiles  of  the  Seine, 
especially,  no  longer  obeyed  their  superiors.  More 
than  that,  they  had  taken  to  arresting  them  and 
bringing  them  as  prisoners  before  the  Central 
Committee,  which,  for  the  most  part,  released 
them.  The  20,000  mobiles  of  the  Seine  were 
quickly  disbanded,  but  not  much  was  gained  by 
the  arrangement,  for  they  stayed  in  Paris.  The 
others  were  sent  off,  as  soon  as  possible,  either 
on  foot,  passing  through  the  enemy's  lines,  or  by 
rail,  so  soon  as  the  railroads  were  reopened.  This 
difiBcult  operation  was  completed  on  the  14th 
March.  The  men  of  the  active  army  entitled  to 
be  discharged  were  also  disbanded  at  the  same 
time  ;  the  former  army  of  Paris  vanished  ;  but, 
just  in  time,  came  a  new  one  sent  by  M.  Thiers, 
at  the  urgent  request  of  General  Vinoy,  and  with 
the  authorization  of  the  Prussians,  who  com- 
prehended the  absolute  necessity  of  letting  the 
third  article  of  the  preliminaries  of  peace  lie 
dormant. 

This  army,  consisting  of  4420  infantry  and  a 
division  of  cavalry,  arrived  in  Paris  with  the 
men  belonging  to  it  who  were  entitled  to  be 
discharged,  and  who  had  to  be  sent  off  to  their 
homes   at   once.       In   consequence   of  this,   the 


234  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   IT.    THIERS. 

effective  strength  of  the  companies,  already  in- 
complete, was  still  further  reduced  ;  and  the 
regiments  were  more  like  corps  in  process  of 
formation  than  regiments  already  formed.  An 
effort  was  made  to  place  tbem  upon  a  proper 
footing,  by  amalgamating  them  with  the  former 
regiments  bearing  the  same  number,  according  as 
the  latter  came  back  from  captivity.  This  difficult 
operation,  during  which  an  army  can  only  exist 
upon  paper,  was  not  concluded  by  the  17th  March. 
The  new  arrivals  encountered  the  mobiles  of  the 
Seine  and  all  the  discharged  soldiers  of  the  former 
army  of  Paris,  who  had  not  yet  returned  to  their 
departments,  or  who  had  been  domiciled  in  Paris 
before  the  war.  There  was  a  great  number  of 
them  :  they  turned  up  in  all  the  insurrections, 
where  they  appeared  in  the  képi,  and  red  trousers, 
and  where  their  presence  was  always  greeted  with 
hearty  acclamations.  Even  before  they  were  dis- 
charged, it  had  been  necessary  to  billet  them  upon 
the  inhabitants,  so  as  to  restore  the  schools, 
colleges,  and  palaces,  which  had  been  turned  into 
barracks  during  the  siege,  to  the  public  administra- 
tion. To  these  discharged  soldiers  must  be  added 
a  swarm  of  francs-tireurs  and  foreign  volunteers, 
who  were  adventurers  rather  than  soldiers,  and 
who  found  their  opportunity  in  scenes  of  disorder. 
Among  surroundings  such  as  these,  the  regiments, 


PAEIS   BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1 87 1.        285 

sent  to  Paris,  and  those  composing  Faron's  small 
division,  were  perilously  placed:  all  these  men, 
who  were  soldiers  no  longer  and  yet  had  not  taken 
up  their  former  trades,  were  an  incessant  cause 
of  demoralization  to  their  comrades  in  the  active 
army.  Certainly,  an  army  commanded  by  men 
such  as  Generals  Vinoy  and  Faron,  was  in 
vigorous  hands  ;  but  it  had  neither  cohesion, 
party  spirit,  nor  discipHne.  The  disarmed  and 
the  discharged  men  soon  turned  the  army  to  the 
side  of  the  Federals,  who  shouted  :  "  Vive  la 
hgne  !"  as  they  passed  along.  They  had  in 
themselves  a  powerful  incentive  to  insurrection  ; 
for,  if  the  Central  Committee  and  its  adherents 
were  actuated  by  secret  political  intentions,  the 
greater  number  of  those  who  made  the  demonstra- 
tions were  inspired  by  nothing  more  than  anger 
against  the  Prussians,  and  pride  in  the  flag  and 
the  name  of  France  :  sentiments  which  were  as 
powerful  in  the  hearts  of  the  soldiers  as  in  those 
of  the  citizens.  All  the  generals  felt  themselves 
powerless,  as  their  despatches  testify.  "  Do  you 
wish  us  to  resist  ?  I  am  not  sure  of  my  men." 
Or  again,  "I  do  not  know  what  my  men  may 
do  ;"  or  else,  "  These  disturbances  are  serious, 
and  I  have  no  means  of  putting  them  down." 
General  Yinoy,  determined  to  know  the  worst, 
held  a  review  :   the  attitude  of  the  soldiers  was 


236  TOE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

threatening  ;  they  were  within  a  hair's-breadth  of 
mutiny.  The  General-in-chief  was  so  little  in  a 
condition  to  resist,  that  towards  the  middle  of 
March  lie  fell  back  with  his  troops  towards  the 
centre.  It  often  happened,  that  when  a  general 
commanding  a  zone  would  send  a  detachment 
of  soldiers  to  prevent  the  carrying  ofiP  of  cannon 
or  the  pillage  of  armouries,  the  men  would  not 
march;  or  that  even  on  the  spot,  they  would 
not  obey  orders,  or  they  would  fraternize  openly 
with  the  Federals.  There  were  honourable,  even 
splendid  exceptions  ;  gendarmes  and  soldiers  who 
let  themselves  be  imprisoned  so  long  as  the 
Commune  lasted  rather  than  fight  against  the 
French  army;  some  forfeited  their  lives  in  this 
devotion  to  duty;  but  the  bulk  of  tke  army  of 
Paris  was  rotten.  The  Communists  took  pains  to 
mark  this,  after  the  18th  March,  by  their  mani- 
festations of  delight.  "  Our  brethren  of  the  army 
would  not  lay  a  hand  upon  the  sacred  ark  of 
our  liberties."  This  was  said  publicly.  Among 
themselves,  they  judged  "  our  brethren  of  the 
army,"  who  had  given  themselves,  or  been  bought, 
more  severely  ;  but  these  sentiments  of  contempt, 
expressed  behind  closed  doors,  only  afford  further 
proof  of  the  reality  and  extent  of  the  treachery. 
It  is  worth  while  to  give  details.  One  day,  after 
the    18th   March,   it   was   asked,    at   the    Hôtel 


PARIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1871*        237 

de  Ville,  what  was  to  be  done  with  the  soldiers  ? 
One  member  proposed  that  they  should  be  in- 
corporated with  the  National  Guard;  another, 
named  Rousseau,  set  himself  energetically  against 
this  proposal,  saying,  "  no  confidence  could  be 
placed  in  men  who  had  been  seen  to  sell  their  arms 
to  the  first  comer  for  a  few  pieces  of  money." 
To  this  had  the  army  of  Paris  come.  General 
Lecomte  was  killed  on  the  18th,  only  because  his 
men  deserted  him  ;  he  was  taken  by  the  assassins 
from  amidst  his  own  soldiers. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  the  1st  March  (the  day 
of  the  Prussian  entry)  by  the  Federal  Council  of 
the  International  Assembly,  Ridet  makes  the 
following  report  :  "  This  evening,  I  had  proof 
that  Yinoy  is  no  longer  obeyed.  The  line  Avants 
to  avoid  all  conflict  with  the  people.  Vinoy 
sent  them  to  bring  away  the  cannon  from  the 
Place  Royale.  The  National  Guard  refused  to 
give  them  up.  The  line  did  not  insist."  Babick 
makes  the  following  reflection  :  "  The  influence 
of  these  events  is  considerable,  this  may  be 
an  immense  advantage."  Since  the  soldiers 
disobeyed  their  general  when  it  was  a  ques- 
tion of  carrying  off  the  guns,  it  is  easy  to  foresee 
what  would  have  happened  if  they  had  been  sent 
into  Belleville  or  Montmartre,  to  arrest  the 
leaders  of  the  federation.     Even  if  the  formation 


238  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.   THIEES. 

of  a  company  of  trustworthy  and  devoted  men 
could  have  been  achieved,  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  have  effected  any  arrest  without 
much  bloodshed.  Who  could  have  exposed 
Paris  to  such  a  danger,  at  the  very  moment 
of  the  Prussian  entry?  Not  M.  Thiers;  not 
MM.  Jules  Favre  and  Jules  Ferry;  and  they 
alone  had  to  represent  the  Government  after 
the  27th.  General  Vinoy  and  all  the  generals 
under  his  command  shared  this  sentiment.  It 
is  easy  enough,  when  these  events  are  left  far 
behind,  to  accuse  the  authorities  of  weakness  ; 
those  who  are  in  the  midst  of  the  facts,  who 
can  measure  the  scope  of  their  means  of  action, 
who  foresee  the  consequences  of  defeat,  often 
exhibit  more  courage  in  temporizing  than  would 
have  sufficed  for  fighting.  This  was  the  history 
of  the  new  Government,  in  those  ill-omened  days 
at  the  end  of  February,  as  it  had  been  that  of  the 
Government  of  Defence  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  sieg^e  of  Paris. 

The  uncertainty  which  had  prevailed  respect- 
ing the  exact  day  for  the  entry  of  the  Prussians, 
had  produced,  perhaps,  a  favourable  result. 
Anger  had  had  time  to  cool,  zeal  had  worn  itself 
out  during  four  days'  suspense.  A  conflict  could 
only  result  from  a  moment  of  blind  rage,  whose 
insanity   all   had   recognized   on  reflection.     The 


PARIS    BEFORE   THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1 87 1.        239 

Government  was  certain  that  they  had  not  a 
general  engagement  to  fear,  but  they  dreaded 
partial  disturbances  which  might  serve  the  enemy 
as  a  pretext.  The  Central  Committee,  who 
had  probably  resolved  from  the  first  to  submit 
to  the  occupation  which  no  one  in  the  world 
could  prevent,  but  also  to  take  advantage  of  it 
to  get  possession  of  the  cannon  and  ammu- 
nition, and  to  establish  its  authority  over  the 
federal  battalions,  posted  the  following  proclama- 
tion, on  the  evening  of  the  28th,  so  that  it  might 
appear  that  all  the  popular  movements  were 
directed  by  the  Committee. 

"  French  Republic. 

"  Liberty,  EquaHty,  Fraternity, 

"  Central  Committee  of  the  National  Guard. 

"  Citizens, — 

"  As  it  appears  that  the  general  feeling  of  the 
population  is  against  offering  any  opposition  to 
the  entry  of  the  Prussians  into  Paris,  the  Cen- 
tral Committee,  which  had  issued  a  notice  to  the 
contrary,  now  declare  that  they  have  adopted  the 
following  resolution  : — 

"  There  shall  be  erected  all  round  those  quar- 
ters of  the  city  which  the  enemy  is  to  occupy,  a 
series  of  barricades  so  as  to  isolate  that  portion 
of  the  city  completely. 


240  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

"  The  inhabitants  of  the  district  circumscribed 
within  these  limits  ought  to  evacuate  it  imme- 
diately. 

"  The  National  Guard,  in  concert  with  the  army, 
formed  into  a  cordon,  will  surround  this  space, 
and  will  take  care  that  the  enemy,  thus  isolated  on 
a  soil  which  forms  no  longer  a  portion  of  our  city, 
shall  have  no  communication  whatsoever  with  the 
other  portions  of  Paris. 

"  The  Central  Committee  therefore  request  all 
the  National  Guard  to  lend  their  aid  in  the  exe- 
cution of  the  measures  necessary  to  effect  this 
purpose,  and  also  to  avoid  all  acts  of  aggression 
which  would  bring  about  the  immediate  overthrow 
of  the  Republic. 

"  Paris,  the  28th  February,  1871. 
"  The  Members  of  the  Commission  : 
"  André  Alavoine,  Bouit,  Frontier,  Bour- 
sier, David,  Boisson,  Haroud,    Gritz, 
Tessier,    Ramel,  Badois,   Arnold,  Pi- 
connel,    Masson,  Andoyneau,  Weber, 
Lagarde,    Jean   Laroque,    Jules    Ber- 
geret,    Pouchain,    Lavalette,    Fleury, 
Maljournal,    Chouteau,    Cadoze,    Gas- 
teau,  Dutil,  Matte,  Mutin." 
The   plan  of   the    Central    Committee  was,  in 
fact,  no  other  than  that  of  General  Yinoy,  who  on 
his  side  had  also  published  a  proclamation. 


PAEIS   BEFORE    THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.       241 

Among  the  names  of  members  of  "the  Com- 
mission "  of  the  Central  Committee  we  find  that 
of  Chouteau,  who  belonged  to  the  International. 
The  Federal  Council  of  the  International  had 
decided,  after  some  hesitation,  that  four  of  its 
members  should  get  themselves  delegated  by  the 
companies,  so  as  to  make  part  of  the  Central 
Committee.  These  four  members  were  to  act 
in  their  own  names,  without  compromising  the 
association,  but  they  were  to  supply  it  with  in- 
formation, and  to  be  guided  by  it. 

The  International  Association  laid  great  stress 
on  what  it  called  its  moral  influence  ;  it  wanted 
to  bear  a  part  in  everything,  and  meant  to  take 
its  share  of  political  action,  without,  however, 
allowing  politics  to  be  anything  but  a  means  of 
serving  its  social  propaganda. 

MM.  Lanjalley  and  Corriez,  the  authors  of 
a  history  of  the  18th  March,  assert,  that  before 
drawing  up  the  Manifesto  of  the  28th  February, 
the  Central  Committee  had  admitted  several 
members  of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Inter- 
national, under  the  title  of  free  members,  "in 
order  to  counterbalance  the  influence  of  the 
violent  and  unruly  element  existing  in  its  own 
body."  The  Central  Committee  did  not  call  upon 
the  International  to  act  as  moderators.  It  did 
not  fear  its  own  violence  to  that  extent  ;  it  only 

VOL.  I.  R 


242  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

did  on  the  28th.  what  was  already  intended  on 
the  24th,  but  it  wilhnglj  accepted  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  International,  in  order  to  explain 
and  cover  the  sudden  transformation  of  its 
policy. 

The  International,  whose  directing  Committee 
was  composed  of  very  prudent  men,  was  far 
from  any  ideas  of  resistance,  as  the  following 
document  will  sufficiently  prove  : — 

"  Paris,  28th  February. 

"  Numerous  deputations  have  presented  them- 
selves at  the  Corderie  since  the  entry  of  the 
Prussians  has  been  under  consideration,  and 
have  declared  that  they  expected  to  find  there 
a  military  organization  quite  ready  to  march 
against  the  invaders  when  they  should  set  foot 
in  Paris. 

"  The  members  present  having  requested  the 
delegates  to  state  what  groups  they  represented, 
the  names  of  certain  citizens  were  given  who 
have  not  received  any  mandate  from  the  Com- 
mittees constituting  the  reunion  of  the  Corderie, 
viz  : — 

"  The  International  x^ssociation  of  Workmen  ; 
the  Federal  Chamber  of  the  Working  Men's  Society; 
the  Deputation  of  the  twenty  arrondissements. 

"  Under  these  circumstances  the  three  groups 


PAEIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 8/ 1.        243 

of  the  Corderie  inform  tlie  workmen  of  Paris  that 
they  have  given  no  mandate  to  any  one  on  the 
subject  of  an  action  against  the  Prussians. 

"  The  members  present  consider  it  their  duty 
to  declare  their  behef  that  any  attack  would 
but  serve  to  place  the  people  in  the  power  of  the 
enemies  of  the  Revolution,  of  German  and  French 
Monarchists,  who  would  drown  all  social  claims 
in  a  sea  of  blood. 

"  We  remember  the  dark  days  of  June. 
*'  The  Members  of  the  Commission  : 

"  Henri  Goulle,  Pindy,  Jules  Vallès, 
Rochat,  Roueyrol,Leo  Meillet,  Ch. 
Beslay,  Avrial,  Antoine  Arnoud." 

Round  that  portion  of  Paris  occupied  by  the 
Prussians  the  Government  had  formed  two  cordons 
of  troops,  one  furnished  by  General  Faron's  regi- 
ments, the  second  by  the  National  Guard.  The 
National  Guard  disliked  this  service,  notwithstand- 
ing their  high  pay.  The  two  cordons  were  broken 
through  by  only  a  few  inquisitive  persons,  espe- 
cially on  the  first  day.  It  had  been  verbally 
arranged  that  the  Prussians  might  visit,  indi- 
vidually and  unarmed,  the  Louvre  and  the  Inva- 
lides ;  the  Government  had  consequently  ordered 
all  the  gates  of  the  Tuileries,  of  the  Place  du  Car- 
rousel, and  of  the  Court  of  the  Louvre  to  be  shut. 

E  2 


244  THE   GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIEES. 

The  Louvre  was  completely  closed  in  by  canvas 
screens,  so  as  to  hide  Paris  from  the  enemy,  and 
the  enemy  from  the  Parisians.  In  the  interior  of 
the  town  cafés  and  shops  were  shut  ;  the  greater 
number  bore  the  following  inscription  :  "  Closed 
on  account  of  the  National  Mourning."  Few,  if 
any  carriages  ;  scarcely  any  one  on  foot  :  a  dead 
city.  The  Bourse  was  deserted  ;  the  kiosks  were 
closed.  Thirty-seven  newspapers,  of  the  most 
diverse  opinions,  had  unanimously  announced 
that  they  would  not  appear,  and  exhorted  the 
citizens  to  calmness  and  dignity.  Not  one  of 
them  broke  faith.  In  the  night  some  unknown 
hand  had  covered  the  face  of  each  of  the  statues 
in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  with  a  black  veil. 
A  few  houses  hoisted  black  flags. 

The  vanguard  of  the  Prussians  entered  by 
the  Grande  Avenue  des  Champs  Elysées  on  the 
1st  March,  at  eight  o'clock,  but  without  passii^ 
under  the  Arc  de  Triomphe,  the  middle  arch  being 
completely  blocked  up  by  heaps  of  stones  and 
rubbish.  They  were  preceded  by  a  numerous 
staff,  who  rode  on  to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde 
and  marched  round  it  several  times,  as  though 
to  take  possession  of  it.  A  regiment,  which 
appeared  to  be  a  second  vanguard,  entered 
Paris  about  half-past  ten.  The  Emperor  mean- 
while reviewed  the  main  body  of  the  army  on  the 


PARIS   BEFOEE    THE    i8tH    MAllCH,    1 87 1.        245 

race-course  of  Longchamps.  He  afterwards  re- 
turned to  Versailles  with  the  Crown  Prince,  and 
did  not  enter  Paris  at  all.  The  troops  in  occupa- 
tion marched  with  fife  and  drum  down  the 
Grande  Avenue  des  Champs  Elysees  at  about 
three  o'clock.  A  great  number  of  ofiB.cers  of  all 
arms  had  requested  permission  to  join  the  staff  of 
General  Kammecke,  who  commanded  the  corps  of 
occupation.  Count  Bismark  came  the  next  day 
in  a  close  carriage,  but  went  no  farther  than  the 
Avenue  de  la  Grand  Armée. 

The  Prussians  came  with  all  the  panoply  of 
war,  like  troops  going  into  battle,  not  to  a  parade. 
Their  baggage,  ambulances,  telegraphs,  canteens, 
and  forage  waggons  crowded  the  Palais  de  l'Indus- 
trie, the  Rotonde  des  Panoramas,  and  the  Cirque. 
Many  officers  and  soldiers  were  quartered  on  the 
inhabitants;  General  de  Kammecke  established  his 
head  quarters  in  Queen  Christina's  house.  The 
German  soldiers,  closely  watched  by  their  officers, 
and  perhaps  also  feeling  they  were  treading  on 
a  mine,  were  guilty  of  no  provocation,  cruelty,  or 
depredation.  At  the  round  point  of  the  Champs 
Elysees,  whilst  the  Prussians  were  marching  past 
by  torchlight,  a  passer-by  hissed  them,  and,  being 
pursued,  climbed  over  a  hoarding  in  front  of  some 
buildings  in  com-se  of  erection.  The  Prus- 
sians burst  open  the  door  of  the  adjoining  house 


246  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

in  searcli  of  liim,  and  wounded  the  concierge  and 
some  otlier  persons.  A  stone  was  flung  at  a 
Prussian  soldier,  and  it  knocked  his  eye  out  ;  the 
culprit  was  seized  and  executed  on  the  spot.  In 
the  city  some  natives  of  Alsace,  who  were  mistaken 
for  Germans,  were  hunted  by  the  mob,  and  for  a 
time  they  were  in  serious  danger.  Several 
women  of  the  town  who  addressed  the  Prussian 
soldiers  were  beaten. 

At  the  clubs,  which  sat  permanently,  threats 
abounded  ;  and  even  some  rash  demonstrations 
were  made,  such  as  the  rolling  of  barrels  of  gun- 
powder into  the  hall  of  La  Marseillaise,  with  the 
intention,  it  was  said,  of  blowing  up  the  palace 
of  the  Elysée.  Artillery-men  of  the  National 
Guard,  aided  by  women  and  children,  mounted 
five  pieces  of  cannon  on  the  platform  of  the  Mou- 
lin de  la  Galette  in  full  view  of  the  Prussian  army. 
The  greatest  danger,  however,  that  which  most 
alarmed  General  Vinoy  and  the  Government,  arose 
from  the  clause  that  authorized  the  Prussians  to 
visit  the  Louvre  and  the  Invalides.  General 
Yinoy  declared  himself  ready  to  carry  out  the 
condition  with  respect  to  the  visit  to  the 
Invalides,  but  he  pointed  out  the  risks  the 
visitors  must  incur,  by  venturing  so  far  from 
the  occupied  portion  of  Paris,  and  added,  that, 
unarmed    as    he    was,    and    in    presence    of   an 


PAEIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    187T.        247 

angry  and  armed  crowd,  he  could  not  be  respon- 
sible for  tlie  consequences  of  such,  imprudence. 
M.  de  Kammecke  yielded  this  point,  but  insisted 
that  his  men  should  enter  the  Louvre.  General 
Vinoy  then  explained  that  the  galleries  had  no 
longer  any  interest,  as  all  the  large  pictures  had 
been  taken  down  by  order  of  M.  Jules  Simon, 
during  the  siege,  rolled  up,  and  stowed  away  in 
the  half-subterranean  galleries  which  seemed 
likely  to  be  impervious  to  shot  and  shell.  The 
Prussians  would  therefore  see  nothing^  but 
empty  frames.  All  the  windows  of  the  sculpture 
galleries  on  the  ground  floor  had  been  walled  up, 
also  by  order  of  M.  Jules  Simon  ;  so  that  they 
were  simply  dark  vaults.  It  was  consequently 
arranged  that  the  soldiers  should  visit  the  great 
courtyard,  but  not  enter  the  galleries.  They  did 
enter  them  nevertheless,  for  some  of  the  officers, 
finding  a  door  open,  penetrated  as  far  as  the 
gallery  of  Apollo,  and  even  were  so  imprudent  as 
to  open  the  famous  "  window  of  the  Balcony  of 
Henri  III."  and  crowd  into  it  to  admire 
the  fine  view  of  the  Quays,  the  Seine,  and  the  Cité. 
So  soon  as  the  crowd  on  the  bridges  and  in 
the  streets  observed  the  German  uniforms,  there 
arose  a  deafening  roar  of  rage  and  defiance.  Two- 
sous  pieces  were  flung  at  the  Germans  with  the 
cry,   "  Here  is   the  beginning  of  the  three  mil- 


248  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

liards."  Nearly  300,000  National  Guards,  all 
armed,  were  in  the  streets.  A  single  musket-shot 
might  have  led  to  a  massacre,  and  renewed  the 
war. 

The  peace  was  ratified  at  Bordeaux  by  the 
Assembly  on  the  1st  March,  the  day  of  the  Prus- 
sian entry  into  Paris.  The  news  was  received  in 
Paris  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening.  Had  the 
Prussians  been  satisfied  with  the  telegraphic 
despatch  the  occupation  would  have  lasted  only  a 
single  day,  had  they  withdrawn  when  the  authentic 
instrument  of  the  ratification  reached  the  hands 
of  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  it  would  have 
lasted  but  a  day  and  a  half.  Count  Bismark  suc- 
ceeded, by  delays  and  formalities,  in  making  it 
last  two  entire  days.  It  has  been  said  that  the 
Emperor  William  intended  to  make  a  solemn  entry 
into  the  Champs  Elysees  with  Count  Bismarck  and 
Count  Moltke  by  his  side,  and  that  the  3rd  March 
was  the  day  appointed.  If  indeed  he  ever  enter- 
tained this  cruel  and  dangerous  design,  he  was 
obliged  by  the  formal  text  of  the  Convention 
to  abandon  it.  The  evacuation  commenced  early  on 
the  ord  March,  and  terminated  without  any  special 
incident  ;  at  noon  it  was  completed.  The  crowd 
rushed  into  the  Champs  Elysées,  now  deserted  by 
the  enemy.  The  cafés  where  the  Prussians  had 
dined,  the  Café  Dupont,  the  Restaurant  Le  Doyen, 


PArJS   BEFORE    THE    i8tH   MAUCH,    1 87 1.        249 

were  wrecked  and  pillaged  by  a  band  of  ruffians  ; 
but  one  company  of  foot  belonging  to  the  National 
Guard  sufficed  to  re-establish  order. 

The  Central  Committee  had  not  been  inactive 
during  the  two  days  of  the  German  occupation. 
The  members  felt  themselves  all  the  more  free  to 
act  that  the  soldiers  of  Faron's  division  were  em- 
ployed in  surrounding  and  watching  the  Prussians. 
From  the  moment  of  the  evacuation,  they  dis- 
played fresh  activity,  as  though  they  were  in  haste 
to  complete  their  preparations  for  civil  war.  On 
the  3rd  March  they  sent  four  battalions  to  the 
guard-house  of  the  Gobelins  then  occupied  by  the 
"  guardians  of  the  peace  ;"  disarmed  the  soldiers, 
took  possession  of  their  muskets  and  of  a 
quantity  of  ammunition  stored  in  the  establish- 
ment; on  the  4th  they  carried  off  twenty-nine 
howitzers  from  La  Villette  ;  two  days  after 
they  seized  2000  muskets,  belonging  to  the 
wounded  and  sick  soldiers  then  under  treatment 
in  the  Hospital  of  Saint  Antoine.  On  the 
10th  they  ordered  three  battalions  to  seize  the 
cannons  at  the  Luxembourg;  but  the  attempt 
failed;  on  the  14th they  stopped  a  train  of  thirteen 
waggons  carrying  powder,  the  last  waggon  only 
remained  in  their  hands.  On  the  16th  they 
attempted  to  capture  the  powder-magazine  belong- 
ing  to  the  ninth  zone  ;  the  131st  foot,  who  were 


250  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

ordered  to  take  it,  retreated  before  tlie  determined 
resistance  of  the  21st  battalion.  The  Committee 
was  everywhere;  it  prompted  the  revolt  of  the  Garde 
Mobile,  it  laid  hands  on  the  gunpowder  belong- 
ing to  the  State  which  was  stored  in  the  bastions, 
and,  the  better  to  organize  the  approaching 
conflict  with  the  regular  army,  it  withdrew  the 
cannon  which  had  at  first  been  placed  in  the  Place 
des  Vosges,  and  transferred  them  to  the  heights  of 
Belleville  and  Montmartre.  It  also  attacked  Saint 
Pélagie  with  the  object  of  releasing  the  prisoners 
of  the  31st  October  and  22nd  January. 

The  Committee  never  relaxed  its  efforts  to 
entice  the  Line,  and  was  actively  seconded  in 
this  by  the  former  mobiles  of  the  Seine,  and  other 
discharged  soldiers.  On  the  11th  March  the  news 
came  to  Paris  that  the  Assembly  was  to  sit  at 
Versailles,  that  Blanqui  and  Flourens  were  con- 
demned to  death  ^ar  contumace  for  their  partici- 
pation in  the  rising  of  the  31st  October  ;  that  the 
authorities  had  just  suppressed  six  newspapers  : 
Le  Vengeur,  of  Felix  Pyat  ;  Le  Cri  du  Peuple^  of 
Jules  Vallès,  Le  Mot  d^ Ordre  of  Rochefort  ;  Le  Père 
Duchesne,  of  Vermersch  ;  La  Caricature,  of  Pilotell, 
and  A  Bouche  de  Fer,  of  Paschal  Grousset. 

General  Vinoy  had  good  reason  to  fear  that 
this  news  would  exasperate  the  Federals  ;  he 
warned    all    the   commandants    of  the    different 


PARIS    BEFOEE    THE    i8tH    MAECH,    187I.        251 

zones  to  redouble  their  vigilance.  On  the 
following  day,  the  Committee  issued  a  formal 
provocation  to  the  army  to  revolt.  It  was  a 
red  placard,  which  was  posted  on  all  the  walls 
of  Paris. 

The  address  was  as  follows  : — 
"  To  the  Army. 
"  The  Delegates  of  the  National  Guard   of 
Paris. 
"  Soldiers,  Children  of  the  People  ! 

"  Shameful  reports  are  circulated  in  the  Pro- 
vinces. 

"  There  are  in  Paris  300,000  National  Guards, 
and  nevertheless  troops  are  being  brought  in, 
who  are  deceived  respecting  the  spirit  of  the  Pari- 
sian population.  The  men  who  have  organized 
our  defeat,  dismembered  Prance  and  handed  over 
our  gold  to  the  enemy,  want  to  escape  from 
the  responsibility  which  they  have  assumed,  by 
bringing  about  a  civil  war.  They  count  on  you  as 
docile  instruments  of  the  crime  they  meditate. 
Citizen  soldiers,  will  you  obey  a  criminal  command 
to  shed  the  same  blood  as  that  which  flows  in 
your  own  veins?  Will  you  rend  your  own 
flesh  ?  No.  You  will  never  consent  to  become 
parricides  and  fratricides  ! 

"  What  do  the  people  of  Paris  want  ? 

"  They  want  to  keep  their  own  arms,  to  choose 


252      THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIEES. 

their  own  cliiefs,  and  to  revoke  their  choice  when 
they  no  longer  have  confidence  in  those  chiefs. 
They  want  the  soldiers  to  be  sent  back  to  their 
homes,  to  restore  happiness  to  then*  families  and 
to  resume  their  work. 

"  Soldiers,  children  of  the  people,  let  us  unite 
to  save  the  E-epublic.  Kings  and  emperors  have 
done  us  enough  harm.  Do  not  stain  your  lives. 
Military  discipline  does  not  relieve  the  conscience 
from  responsibility.  Let  us  embrace  in  the  full 
sight  of  those,  who,  to  gain  a  step,  to  obtain  a 
place,  to  bring  back  a  kiog,  would  make  us 
slaughter  each  other. 

"  Long  live  the  Republic  ! 
"Voted  in  the  Vaux  Hall,  March  10th,  1871." 
There  were  no  signatures  to  this  placard,  which 
was  read  with  enthusiasm  in  the  quarters  where 
the  Federals  were  in  the  majority,  and  not  with- 
out a  certain  sympathy  in  the  quarters  which  were 
for  "  order."  The  great  majority  of  the  Parisian 
population  is  Republican,  and  the  most  conser- 
vative Republicans  were  not  satisfied  as  to  the 
future  of  the  Republic  in  the  hands  of  M.  Thiers. 
The  prospect  of  a  bloody  struggle  between  the 
Federals  and  the  regular  troops  was  appalling  ; 
they  asked  themselves  which  side  they,  who  had 
not  adhered  to  the  federation,  and  who  had  no 
confidence  in  the  regular  government,  ought  to  take 


PARIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH   MARCH,    1 87 1.        253 

in  the  event  of  a  collision.  Even  among  them  the 
suppression  of  the  six  newspapers  was  unpopular. 
Conservatives  of  all  shades  of  opinion,  even 
monarchical  Conservatives,  persisted  in  requiring 
the  liberty  of  the  press.  It  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  the  people  of  Paris,  whatever  their  political 
opinions,  have  always  shown  themselves  unani- 
mous on  that  point.  During  the  siege,  the  sup- 
pression of  a  newspaper  which  had  revealed  the 
secrets  of  the  Government  was  so  unpopular  that 
it  had  been  impossible  to  persist  in  it.  The  Mayor 
of  Paris  addressed  the  following  despatch  to  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior  : — 

*'  The  suppression  is  exciting  an  agitation 
which  it  would  be  unwise  to  treat  with  con- 
tempt. Groups  of  people  are  formed  even  in  the 
peaceable  quarters.  A  red  placard  addressed  to 
the  Army,  which  is  a  deliberate  appeal  to  dis- 
obedience and  revolt,  is  being  posted  The  soldiers 
read  it  readily;  this  may  become  serious.  Cannot 
this  placard  be  suppressed  ?  " 

The  Prefect  of  Police  wrote  to  the  General- 
in-chief  on  the  12th  March  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning  : — 

"  I  have  had  the  placards  removed  as  well  as  I 
could,  but  the  adjutant-majors  must  have  them 
torn  off  the  walls  of  the  barracks." 

M.    Charles    Yriarte,     in    his     book    entitled 


254  THE    GOVEIÎNMENT    OP   U.   THIEES. 

"  The  Prussians  in  Paris,"  relates  tliat  on  his 
attempting  to  tear  down  one  of  these  placards 
from  a  pillar  in  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  he  was 
instantly  surrounded  by  a  crowd,  hustled,  threat- 
ened, and  otherwise  ill-used.  "  It  seemed,"  says 
he,  "  as  though  the  entire  population  made  com- 
mon cause  with  the  rising;  weakness,  pushed 
even  to  cowardice,  let  us  all  roll  into  the 
gulf." 

General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladines,  who  had  been 
appointed  some  days  before  to  the  post  of  Chief 
Commandant  of  the  National  Guard,  but  was 
detained  at  Bordeaux  by  his  duties  as  a  member 
of  the  Commission  of  Fifteen,  hastened  to  Paris 
immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of 
peace.  His  official  nomination  dates  from  the 
3rd  March.  Cluseret  announced  it  to  the  Central 
Committee  by  a  letter  written  at  Bordeaux,  as 
follows  : — 

"  General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladines  is,  after  Gam- 
betta  and  Trochu,  the  most  guilty  man  towards 
France.  It  was  he  who  delivered  up  the  army  of 
the  Loire  without  a  struggle,  for  one  cannot  give 
the  name  of  combat  to  his  shameful  flight.  lie 
ought  to  have  been  tried  by  court  martial,  and 
yet  it  is  he  whom  M.  Thiers  selects  to  place  at  your 
head  I  By  what  right  is  this  fresh  insult  inflicted  ? 
Where  is  the  mandate  of  M.  Thiers,  and  of  the 


PARIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH   MARCH,    187I.        255 

Assembly  which  has  conferred  power  on  him  ? 
Elected  by  the  peasants  for  a  specific  purpose  : 
to  treat  for  the  disgrace  of  France  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  towns,  it  has  accomplished  its 
sorry  mandate.  Now  it  is  nothing  more  than  a 
group  of  factious  men. 

*'  The  source  of  all  power,  and  the  only  power 
in  Paris,  is  you.  National  Guards  of  the  Seine, 
you  the  advanced  people." 

On  the  day  of  his  arrival  in  Paris,  the  4th 
March,  General  d'Aurelles  summoned  a  meeting 
of  the  majors  at  head-quarters.  A  very  few  of 
them  responded  to  his  summons. 

The  general  published  an  order  of  the  day,  in 
which  he  spoke  of  discipline  and  repression.  "  My 
first  duty  is  to  secure  the  maintenance  of  order, 
and  respect  for  law  and  property.  Labour  must 
repair  the  misfortunes  of  the  war  as  speedily  as 
possible.  Order  alone  can  give  us  back  prosperity. 
I  am  firmly  resolved  to  repress  everything  which 
might  threaten  the  tranquillity  of  the  city."  There 
is  nothing  to  be  said  against  these  words,  still  they 
were  not  calculated  to  allay  excitement.  The 
general  had  all  the  will  to  suppress  and  punish  the 
promoters  of  rebellion,  but  he  had  not  the  means  to 
do  so  ;  every  one  knew  this,  and  none  better  than 
the  Federals  themselves.  To  show  how  little  they 
regarded  the  superior  who  had  been  sent  to  them, 


256  THE    GOVEENMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

they  hastened  to  elect  generals.  They  did  this 
without  concert,  in  haste,  in  the  guise  of  a  pro- 
test, and  in  such  confusion  that  no  one  knew 
whether  the  general-in-chief  were  Darras,  or 
Henri,  or  Duval.  Darras  became  an  intendant, 
or  something  of  that  sort,  under  the  Commune. 
Duval  was  the  workman,  transformed  into  a 
general,  who  was  shot,  by  Vinoy's  orders,  after 
one  of  the  first  encounters,  and  who  at  least  had 
this  merit,  that  he  died  bravely.  Henri,  who  was 
subsequently  chief  of  the  staff  of  Bergeret,  exer- 
cised a  sort  of  authority  after  his  nomination  : 
he  had  his  staff  and  even  a  body-guard,  in  imitation 
of  Flourens.  It  was  he  who  took  the  command 
at  the  Ohaussee-du-Maine,  on  the  18th  March. 
A  meeting  held  at  the  Vaux  Hall,  where  the  real 
business  was  mostly  done,  proclaimed  Garibaldi 
general-in- chief.  He  was  of  course  a  general  i7i 
partihus,  but  they  gave  him  very  effective  lieu- 
tenants in  Piazza  and  Brunei. 

It  was  perfectly  clear,  from  the  election  of 
generals,  that  D'Aurelles  de  Paladines,  or  any 
other  chief  appointed  in  his  place  by  the  Govern- 
ment, would  not  be  obeyed.  The  Government 
had  desired  a  resolute  rûan,  tliej^  had  one  ;  but  of 
what  avail  was  the  will  without  the  power? 
Another  resolute  man.  General  Valentine,  was 
appointed   Prefect  of  Pohce   twelve    days    later. 


PARIS    BEFORE    THE    i8tH    MARCH,    1 87 1.        257 

These  two  nominations,  D'Aurelles  and  Valentine, 
appeared  satisfactory  only  because  tliere  was  no 
real  knowledge  of  the  power  of  the  Federals,  nor 
of  the  disorganization  and  demoralization  of 
what  was  taken  for  the  army  of  order.  Every- 
thing was  toppling  over.  The  Assembly  was 
coming  in  a  few  days  to  sit  at  Versailles  ;  the 
majority,  incensed  as  they  were  against  Paris, 
and  determined,  as  they  expressed  it,  no  longer 
to  suffer  Paris  to  send  a  ready-made  government 
into  the  provinces  every  six  months,  could  not 
fail  to  come  to  violent  resolutions.  It  was 
necessary  to  end  matters  before  the  arrival  of 
the  Assembly. 

M.  Thiers  resolved  to  make  a  great  effort  to 
recover  the  cannon.  If  he  succeeded,  the  authori- 
ties would  again  have  the  upper  hand,  all  would 
then  be  easy.  If  he  failed,  he  would  retire  to 
Versailles,  reconstruct  the  army,  and  prepare  to 
take  Paris.  Anything  was  preferable  to  the  pro- 
longation of  a  crisis  which  kept  the  Government 
face  to  face  with  an  organized  revolt,  with  listless 
adherents,  and  with  an  army  ready  to  throw  down 
their  arms,  or  to  fraternize  with  the  insurgents. 


VOL.  I. 


258  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP   M.   THIERS, 


CHAPTER  Y. 

THE   CENTRAL   COMMITTEE. 

M.  Jules  Ferry,  wlio  discharged  the  functions  of 
Mayor  of  Paris,  and  whose  ability  and  energy 
M.  Thiers  fully  appreciated,  was  always  present 
at  the  Ministerial  Councils.  General  Vinoy  and 
General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladines  were  summoned 
to  attend  the  Council  held  on  the  17th  March, 
at  which  it  was  the  almost  unanimous  opinion 
that,  during  the  night  of  the  17th  or  18th,  the 
heights  of  Montmartre  should  be  occupied  and 
the  cannon  which  the  Federals  had  accumulated 
there,  seized  ;  and  that  the  safety  of  France  and 
the  honour  of  the  Government  depended  on  this 
being  done.  So  long  as  the  city  was  threatened 
with  civil  war,  business  could  not  be  resumed,  the 
Prussians  would  not  depart,  and  the  ransom  could 
not  be  paid.  The  remembrance  of  the  attempt 
made  a  few  days  previously  by  M.  Clemenceau 
led  the  Ministers  to  believe  that  only  slight  oppo- 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  259 

sition  would  be  offered.  M.  Clemenceau  liad 
persuaded  the  officers  of  a  battalion  of  bis  arron- 
dissement that  they  would  be  doing  an  act  of 
patriotism  and  wisdom  in  allowing  the  Govern- 
ment to  resume  possession  of  the  guns  ;  he  had 
then  advised  the  Government  of  this  state  of 
feeling,  and  indicated  the  day  on  which  this 
particular  battalion  would  be  on  guard.  At 
the  appointed  hour  on  that  day  teams  were 
sent  to  take  away  the  cannon  ;  but,  either 
through  some  misunderstanding,  or  through 
the  secret  action  of  the  Central  Committee,  the 
guns  were  not  given  up.  For  all  that,  the  con- 
sent of  the  battalion  was  a  symptom  of  weariness 
or  of  appeasement.  The  Government  believed 
that  the  Central  Committee  had  resisted  so  long 
as  they  thought  force  would  not  be  used,  but 
that,  if  active  measures  were  taken,  they  would 
no  longer  resist  the  law  by  violence.  Supposing, 
however,  they  did  fight,  the  first  few  shots  would 
rouse  the  National  Guards,  who  had  remained 
passive  until  now  because  they  would  not  admit 
to  themselves  that  there  was  real  danger.  Faron's 
division,  which  had  already  acquired  steadiness 
under  its  able  chief,  would  set  the  example  to  the 
soldiers  who  had  arrived  the  day  before. 

General  Vinoy  did  not  share  these  views.  He  had 
for  a  long  tine  previously  been  at  variance  with 

s  2 


260  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIEKS. 

the  Central  Committee  ;  lie  tliorougUy  knew  the 
dispositions  of  the  Non-federal  National  Guards, 
while,  as  for  what  was  called  his  army,  he  repeated 
again  and  again  that  he  had  under  his  command 
only  a  corps  in  process  of  formation,  and  that  it 
would  be  imprudent  to  employ  it,  as  he  could 
not  answer  for  it.  He  would  have  had  the 
Ministers  await  the  return  of  some  of  the  regi- 
ments who  were  now  prisoners  in  Germany. 

"  The  new  troops  which  form  the  army  of  Paris 
were  scarcely  organized,"  he  says,  in  his  history  of 
these  events,  "  the  greater  number  of  the  men  had 
been  only  two  days  in  the  ranks,  and  the  regiments 
consequently  lacked  the  necessary  homogeneity 
and  cohesion. 

"A  small  army  of  from  25,000  to  30,000  men 
of  inferior  calibre,  as  opposed  to  300,000  National 
Guards,  the  one  indifferent  if  not  hostile,  the  other 
well  armed  and  possessing  unexpected  means  of 
resistance  ;  under  such  circumstances  was  the 
struggle  undertaken,  on  which  such  grave  and 
considerable  interests  depended." 

These  were  strong  reasons  from  a  military  point 
of  view,  but  M.  Thiers  looked  at  the  situation  as 
a  politician.  Supposing  the  Government  did  not 
succeed  during  the  night  of  the  17th  with  their 
insufficent  force,  that  would  be  a  repulse  no  doubt, 
but  a   repulse   easily  explained  and  repaired,  it 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  261 

would  not  be  the  same  thing  if  the  former,  the 
regular  army,  were  employed.  In  what  state 
would  it  return  ?  Several  months  of  captivity 
might  have  transformed  it  physically  and  morally. 
It  would  be  all  over  with  this  army,  should  it  be 
beaten  by  the  insurgents;  while,  should  it  fraternize 
with  them,  it  would  be  all  over  with  France  !  If 
it  were  evident,  after  the  decisive  proof  of  the 
18th  March,  that  the  majority  of  the  National 
Guard  was  not  with  the  Government,  it  would 
no  longer  be  possible  to  contend  against  Paris, 
and  the  only  course  left  would  be  to  quit  the  city 
and  afterwards  to  retake  it.  These  reasons  con- 
vinced the  Council.  In  any  case  they  would  only 
have  three  days  to  wait,  for  no  one  entertained  any 
doubt  concerning  the  resolutions  which  would 
be  taken  by  the  Assembly. 

The  plan  of  action  was  arranged  between  M. 
Thiers,  General  Le  Flo,  General  Yinoy,  and 
General  d' Aurelles.  General  Susbielle,  having  with 
him  Generals  Paturol  and  Lecomte,  was  to  take 
possession  of  Montmartre  ;  General  Faron  to  make 
himself  master  of  the  Buttes  de  Chaumont. 
Strong  detachments  were  posted  at  the  Hôtel  de 
Ville  and  at  the  Tuileries  ;  there  was  also  a  reserve 
corps  at  the  École  Militaire,  whither  the  cannons 
recovered  from  the  National  Guard  were  to  be  con- 
veyed.     Thus  the  whole  army  of  Paris  was  astir. 


2G2  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP    M.    THIERS. 

The  artillery  teams  were  stationed  in  the  Champs 
Elysées  and  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  in 
readiness  for  the  first  signal. 

Everything  passed  off  at  first  as  had  been 
hoped  ;  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  the  heights 
of  Chaumont  and  Montmartre  were  in  possession 
of  our  troops.  The  satisfaction  of  the  Government 
was,  however,  of  but  short  duration.  We  had 
reached  and  occupied  the  heights  without  difficulty, 
as  the  expedition  had  not  been  foreseen.  When  the 
presence  of  our  regiments  became  known,  the 
Committee  ordered  the  drums  to  beat  to  arms, 
the  Federals  presented  themselves,  and  recovered 
their  positions  as  they  had  lost  them,  without 
striking  a  blow.  The  troops  had  marched  will- 
ingly, but  in  face  of  the  National  Guard,  and 
especially  of  women  and  children  who  flocked  to 
the  ground,  they  would  neither  fire  nor  charge. 
The  result  of  the  operation  was  that  the  Federals 
kept  their  guns,  and  acquired  the  certainty  that 
power  lay  with  them,  and  that  the  Government 
was  forsaken  and  impotent.  It  has  been  said 
that  had  there  been  a  greater  number  of  teams, 
and  had  they  been  on  the  spot  at  the  same  time 
as  the  soldiers,  the  cannon  might  have  been 
carried  away  in  an  hour  or  two,  so  that  the 
general-in-chief's  error  in  the  disposition  of  his 
forces  was  in  reality  to  blame  for  the  failure  of 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  263 

the  undertaking.  This  opinion  is  generally  enter- 
tained and  repeated,  but  it  will  not  bear  examina- 
tion. All  the  events  of  1870-71  are  rashly  judged 
by  prejudiced  or  ill-informed  persons,  who  do  not 
take  into  account  the  difficulties  and  impossibilities 
of  the  case.  On  the  18th  March  it  would  have  been 
impossible  for  the  generals  to  employ  more  horses 
than  they  used,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  they 
had  not  got  them.  The  siege  had  decimated 
our  cavalry.  The  teams  could  not  have  been 
brought  up  to  the  point  of  attack  at  the  same 
time  as  the  soldiers,  without  risking  the  success 
of  the  operation  and  the  safety  of  the  troops. 
To  convince  one's  self  of  this  one  has  only  to 
glance  at  the  network  of  streets  that  had  to  be 
crossed,  and  at  the  heights  that  had  to  be  scaled. 
Finally,  to  harness  and  transport  the  guns,  which 
were  the  objects  of  the  dispute,  would  have 
been  impossible,  since  at  Montmartre  alone 
there  were  171  pieces  of  artillery  all  entangled 
in  one  another,  and  several  of  them  wanting  their 
limbers. 

It  has  also  been  said  that  the  troops  were  kept 
inactive  from  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  the 
moment  when  a  battahon  of  the  Federals  presented 
themselves  with  the  butt-ends  of  their  muskets 
raised,  and  demanded  a  conference.  This  is  no  less 
untrue.     Sixty  pieces  of  cannon  had  been  carried 


264  THE   GOVERNMENT  OF   M.   THIEES. 

by  the  soldiers  down  to  the  Boulevard  Conr celles, 
and  the  gendarmes  were  hastily  harnessing  them, 
when  Bergeret  came  up  at  the  head  of  a  detach- 
ment of  the  128th  battalion.  The  superiority  of 
his  force  rendered  any  attempt  at  resistance  im- 
possible. The  crowd  seized  the  teams,  cut  the 
traces,  and  thus  without  striking  a  blow  captured 
the  greater  number  of  the  cannons. 

It  is  then  vain  to  throw  the  responsibility  of 
defeat  on  the  alleged  faults  of  the  military  authori- 
ties ;  the  ill-success  of  the  day  was  altogether  due 
to  the  inertness  of  the  National  Guard  and  the 
defection  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  army. 
This  is  the  truth,  and  it  is  only  by  fully  recognizing 
it,  that  we  get  a  correct  view  of  the  events  of 
that  day,  and  those  which  ensued. 

The  call  to  arms  had  been  beaten  without  inter- 
mission in  all  the  rich  quarters.  What  was  the 
result  ?  General  Vinoy  says  less  than  1000  men; 
M.  Thiers,  in  his  deposition,  says  600  men.  On 
the  part  of  the  soldiers,  there  was  the  reluctance 
which  always  exists  at  the  beginning  of  a  conflict 
of  the  kind.  They  were  surrounded  on  all  sides 
by  the  National  Guard,  crying  "  Vive  la  ligne  !  " 
crowds  of  women  went  through  their  ranks,  gently 
and  coaxingly  reproaching  them  for  their  conduct, 
and  exhorting  them  to  make  common  cause  with 
the  people,  until  they  refused  to  obey  their  officers. 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  265 

raised  the  butt-ends  of  their  muskets,  or  even 
gave  up  their  arms  altogether.  The  insurgents 
have  boasted,  shameful  to  relate,  that  they  bought 
muskets  from  the  soldiers  "  for  a  few  sous."  A 
great  number  of  soldiers  broke  their  ranks  and 
went  down  into  Paris,  saying  that  an  agreement 
had  been  come  to,  and  all  was  over  ;  others  passed 
into  the  ranks  of  the  insurgents,  and  were  seen  a 
few  hours  later  amongst  the  assassins.  General 
Lecomte  was  seized  in  the  midst  of  his  men,  and 
dragged  to  the  Rue  des  Rosiers.  Whilst  the 
soldiers  were  behaving  thus  at  Montmartre,  where 
the  88th  regiment  opened  its  ranks  to  the 
Federals,  several  other  regiments  in  various  parts 
of  the  city  were  showing  signs  of  insubordination. 
The  Hotel  de  Ville  being  beset  by  a  mob  in  the 
evening,  the  120th  (line  regiment),  quartered  at 
the  Prince  Eugène  Barracks,  laid  down  their  arms 
and  fraternized  with  the  rebels.  The  135th, 
quartered  at  the  Luxembourg,  opened  the  gates, 
and  joined  the  insurrection.  Federals  and  soldiers 
of  the  line  were  seen  in  the  streets  arm-in-arm, 
uttering  seditious  cries,  and  disarming  the  soldiers 
whom  they  met  if  they  refused  to  join  them. 
The  Council  of  Ministers,  sitting  permanently  at 
the  Foreign  Office,  learned  successively  that  the 
Federals  were  masters  of  Montmartre  and  Belle- 
ville, and  that  the  Government  had  no  longer  an 


266  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

army.  The  Council  was  literally  in  the  hands 
of  the  insurgents,  who  might  arrest  the  Ministers 
or  even  kill  them,  as  they  killed  that  very  day 
General  Lecomte  and  General  Clément  Thomas, 
who  had  fallen  into  their  hands. 

It  was  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning 
when  General  Lecomte  was  taken  by  main 
force  from  the  very  midst  of  his  soldiers.  He 
was  only  defended  by  his  officers,  several  of 
whom  were  also  seized.  The  house  (N^o.  C) 
to  which  they  dragged  him  belongs  to  Madame 
Scribe;  and  the  Military  Committee  of  the 
18th  arrondissement,  appointed  a  few  days  before 
at  a  meeting  which  took  place  at  the  Salle 
Robert,  were  sitting  there  permanently.  The 
General  being  brought  before  them,  they  de- 
manded that  he  should  address  a  written  order 
to  abandon  the  heio^hts  to  his  brio-ade.  This  he 
refused  to  do.  The  Committee,  having  at  the  time 
only  a  few  men  at  hand,  sent  off  their  prisoner 
under  escort  to  the  Château  Rouge,  where  a 
large  body  of  National  Guards  was  posted.  All 
along  the  way  the  mob  shouted  that  the  general 
had  made  his  men  fire  on  the  people.  At  one 
o'clock  a  Federal  captain  presented  himself,  with 
an  order  bearing  four  illegible  signatures,  and 
the  General  was  given  up  to  this  man,  who 
placed  him,  with  ten  other  officers  brought  from 


THE   CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  267 

various  parts,  in  tlie  midst  of  a  platoon  of  sixty- 
men,  and  took  him  back  to  No.  6,  Rue  des 
Rosiers,  amid  the  groans  and  threats  of  the  mob. 
On  his  arrival  he  was  placed  in  a  separate  room, 
being  thus  parted  from  the  officers  who  accom- 
panied him.  The  crowd  surrounded  the  house, 
crying,  "Death  to  them!"  Towards  three 
o'clock  General  Clement  Thomas,  who  was  not  in 
uniform  (he  had  been  replaced  since  the  3rd  of 
March  by  General  d'Aurelles),  got  out  of  a 
carriage  on  the  Place  Pigalle,  and  bent  his  steps 
towards  the  Boulevard  Rochechouart.  He  was 
recognized.  "  He  transported  the  citizens  in 
1848  !  He  insulted  the  National  Guard  !  He  sold 
us  to  the  Prussians  !  "  Transported  the  citizens 
in  1848  !  This  was  indeed  a  long-lived  hatred. 
It  must  have  been  the  sons  of  some  of  those 
who  were  transported  who  raised  that  cry.  The 
Commune  was  not  so  vindictive  towards  Cluseret, 
who  distinguished  himself  against  the  insurgents 
in  June,  and  was  decorated  for  it.  A  similar 
accusation'  against  the  Deputies  of  1848  was 
made  on  the  28th  February  in  a  proclamation  of 
the  International:  "  We  remember  June,  1848  !" 
Amongst  the  signatures  to  this  proclamation  was 
that  of  a  man  who,  being  a  Deputy  at  that 
epoch,  had,  like  all  his  colleagues,  fought  against 
the  insurrection.     Those  who   arrested   Clément 


268  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIEES. 

Thomas  do  right  to  recall  this  dark  remem- 
brance. June,  1848,  March,  1871  ;  it  is  the  same 
conflict,  and  General  Clément  Thomas  must  die 
like  General  Bréa  !  Some  men  of  the  National 
Guard  dragged  him  with  insults  and  threats  to 
the  house  in  the  Rue  des  Rosiers.  More  than 
2000  persons  had  followed  him.  He  was  placed 
in  the  same  room  with  Lecomte,  and  for  more  than 
two  hours  the  Federal  officers  who  were  present 
strove  to  prevent  the  crowd,  now  threatening 
them  in  their  turn,  from  forcing  the  door.  The 
Committee,  who  seemed  to  wish  to  avoid  murder, 
transformed  itself  into  a  Court-Martial,  and  con- 
ducted a  sort  of  examination.  They  asked 
Lecomte,  "Do  you  regret  having  fired  on  the 
people?"  He  calmly  replied,  "What  I  have 
done  is  well  done."  While  two  or  three  of  the 
leaders  were  hesitating  and  trying  to  gain  time, 
those  who  surrounded  the  General,  and  the  crowd 
outside,  were  eager  for  the  end. 

"  Why  these  delays  ?  we  are  betrayed  !" 
A  rush  was  made,  inside,  upon  the  judges,  out- 
side, upon  the  house.  The  prisoners  were  lost.- 
In  a  trial  which  took  place  before  the  Court- 
Martial  in  March,  1878,  Captain  Franck  related  a 
strange  and  touching  incident.  "  They  came  to 
ask  General  Clément  Thomas  whether  he  preferred 
being  shot  inside  the  house,  or   in  the  garden. 


THE   CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  269 

He  was  just  asking  me  wliat  was  my  age  ? 
"  Twenty,  General."  "  That  is  very  young  to 
be  shot."  Turning  towards  the  insurgents,  he 
answered,  "  Outside;"  then  he  whispered  in  my 
ear,  "  Thus,  they  may  spare  you." 

At  this  moment  (it  was  five  o'clock)  the  doors 
and  windows  were  smashed  in  and  the  crowd  filled 
the  house.  Some  madmen  seized  Clément  Thomas 
by  the  collar.  "  You  betrayed  us  at  Montretout  !  " 
A  sergeant  of  the  line  shook  his  fist  at  General 
Lecomte,  and  vociferated,  "You  sent  me  to 
prison  for  thirty  days  ;  I  shall  be  the  first  to  fire, at 
you!"  General  Clément  Thomas  was  thrust  out 
of  the  room  and  driven  by  blows  from  clenched 
fists  and  from  the  butt-ends  of  muskets,  into  the 
garden  ;  on  the  way  several  balls  struck  him  and 
he  was  covered  with  blood.  He  was  placed  against 
the  wall  ;  holding  his  hat  in  his  right  hand,  he 
tried  to  shield  his  face  with  his  left.  Several 
random  shots  struck  him,  and  he  fell  on  the 
right  side,  his  head  against  the  wall,  and  his 
body  doubled  in  two.  The  men  went  on  firing  at 
him,  afterwards  they  trampled  on  his  corpse,  and 
even  struck  it  with  their  muskets. 

Then  came  Lecomte's  turn.  Calmly  he  handed 
his  money  to  Commandant  Poussargues,  who  had 
been  seized  with  him,  and  entrusted  to  him  his 
last  words    for  his  family,   then  he   walked  out 


270  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP   M.   THIERS. 

before  his  assassins  witli  sucli  quiet  dignity  tliat 
several  insurgent  officers  saluted  liim. 

It  is  a  curious  and  significant  fact  tliat  among 
the  considerable  number  of  assassins,  and  the 
much  more  considerable  number  of  madmen,  who 
had  applauded  the  murders,  after  they  had  pro- 
voked and  rendered  them  inevitable,  not  a 
single  person  urged  a  fresh  attack  on  the  ten 
officers  who  were  awaiting  their  doom  at  the 
distance  of  a  few  paces  from  the  victims  ;  on 
the  contrary,  they  vied  with  each  other  in  aiding 
the  prisoners  to  escape.  The  rescuers  did  not 
forget,  however,  to  give  their  names,  and  they 
took  precautions  so  that  they  might  be  recognized 
or  found  at  need,  and  be  able  to  claim  the  reward 
of  this  good  deed. 

At  the  same  hour  at  which  the  two  Generals 
fell,  a  train  coming  from  Orleans  was  stopped  at 
some  distance  from  the  fortifications,  by  the 
orders  of  a  Federal  officer  accompanied  by  a 
strong  detachment  of  the  National  Guard.  The 
captain  made  General  Chanzy,  who  was  on  his 
way  to  Versailles,  and  whose  presence  in  the  train 
had  evidently  been  signalled,  get  out.  M.  Turquet, 
a  Member  of  the  National  Assembly,  who  witnessed 
this  arrest,  placed  himself  beside  the  General  in 
order  to  share  his  fate.  They  were  both  taken 
in  a  carriage,  in  the  midst  of  insults  and  threats, 


THE   CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  271 

to  the  prison  of  the  zone,  where  they  remained 
two  days.  There  they  found  General  Labouriau, 
of  the  army  of  the  Loire,  who  had  been  arrested 
at  the  same  time  as  General  Chanzy.  Several 
times  during  the  journey  from  the  railroad  to 
the  prison  General  Chanzy' s  life  was  in  danger. 
He  was  protected  from  the  fury  of  the  populace 
by  a  member  of  the  Central  Committee,  M.  Leo 
Meillet,  who  had  taken  him  under  his  pro- 
tection and  defended  him  up  to  the  last  moment 
with  presence  of  mind  and  courage.  The  crowd 
talked  of  nothing  less  than  shooting  General 
Chanzy  over  against  the  Chapel  of  General  Bréa. 
They  said,  "  Let  them  fire  a  single  shot  at  us, 
and  we  will  throw  the  corpse  of  General  Chanzy 
in  their  faces  !"  A  historian  adds  the  following- 
words,  but  does  not  record  who  it  is  that  heard 
them  :  "  The  left  bank  must  have  its  corpse  as 
well  as  the  right  !  " 

Finding  that  the  General  was  not  safe  in  the 
prison  of  the  zone,  M.  Leo  Meillet  had  him  re- 
moved to  the  prison  of  La  Santé,  where  he  was 
detained  several  days.  The  insanity  of  keeping  a 
man  as  a  hostage  who  could  not  be  reproached 
for  anything  except  his  victories,  became  at  last 
apparent.  He  was  released  with  many  apolo- 
gies, and  returned  to  his  post  in  the  Assembly, 
whither  M.  Turquet  had  already  preceded  him. 


272  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIEES. 

Tlie  evening  of  the  18tli  and  a  part  of  the  nig'ht, 
were  employed  by  the  Committees  of  the  different 
arrondissements,  and  by  the  Central  Committee,  in 
consolidating  their  victory,  and  preparing  for  the 
conflict  for  which  they  looked  on  the  morrow. 
Belleville  and  Montmartre,  bristling  with  barri- 
cades and  artillery,  were  transformed  into  for- 
tresses ;  on  various  points  of  Charonne,  the  Fau- 
bourg Saint  Antoine,  the  Faubourg  du  Temple,  the 
Gobelins,  Montrouge,  Yaugirard,  Grenelle  and  the 
Batignolles,  barricades,  with  cannon  and  mitrail- 
leuses, were  erected.  The  barricades  of  Belleville 
were  constructed  in  the  morning  under  the  eyes 
of  General  Faron's  soldiers  ;  the  men  who  worked 
at  them  chatting  quietly  with  the  sentinels, 
like  ordinary  workmen  occupied  in  earning  their 
daily  bread.  The  Federal  battalions  remained 
under  arms  all  day  and  all  night,  some  guarding 
the  parks  of  artillery  and  the  barricades,  others 
visiting  every  part  of  the  city,  parading  on  the 
boulevards,  and  advancing  as  far  as  the  Place  de 
la  Concorde.  Up  to  this  time  the  idea  of  shutting 
the  gates  of  Paris,  and  holding  the  Government, 
with  the  small  army  gathered  together,  and  the 
École  Militaire,  already  hesitating  between  fidelity 
and  desertion,  at  their  mercy,  had  not  occurred 
to  them.  Neither  did  they  on  the  following  day 
think  of  marching  on  Versailles,  where  everything 


THE    CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  273 

was  in  tumult  and  disorder.  The  Committee  itself 
had  not  a  recognized  and  respected  authority, 
nor  a  disciplined,  compact,  manageable  army. 
The  members  thought  only  of  seizing  the  public 
offices,  which  is  indeed  the  business  of  the  first 
day  in  every  Parisian  insurrection.  A  battalion 
entered  the  barracks  of  the  Chateau  d'Eau  at 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  18th  March, 
and  no  one  made  the  least  show  of  resistance.  Some 
individuals  in  plain  clothes,  who  accompanied  the 
battalion,  carried  off  the  soldiers'  chassepots.  At 
nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  Bergeret,  the  newly 
elected  Commandant  of  the  Legion  of  Montmartre, 
and  Arnold,  who,  like  him,  was  a  member  of  the 
Central  Committee,  penetrated  so  far  as  the  Place 
Vendôme  at  the  head  of  two  battalions.  The 
1st  battalion  (non-federal)  was  on  guard  there, 
and  retired  without  an  attempt  at  resistance.  lb 
is  probable  that  orders  to  avoid  a  conflict  had 
been  given.  Bergeret  immediately  placed  detach- 
ments to  bar  the  two  issues  which  lead,  one  into  the 
Eue  de  la  Paix,  the  other  into  the  Rue  Castiglione. 
The  taking  of  this  position  was  important,  since 
it  handed  over  to  the  insurgents  the  Ministère  de 
la  Justice,  and  the  head-quarters  of  the  National 
Guard,  of  the  Army,  and  of  the  Citadel.' 

The  members  of  the  Central  Committee,  divided 
^  La  Place  de  Paris. 

VOL.  I.  T 


274  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

on  that  evening  into  several  groups,  sat  at  the  E-ue 
de  l'Entrepôt,  at  the  Chaussée  Clignancourt,  and  at 
the  Eue  Basf roi.  They  had  given  Lullier,  a  member 
of  the  Committee,  the  command  of  the  National 
Guard  "  while  awaiting  the  arrival  of  Garibaldi," 
whom  they  had  appointed  General-in-chief.  It 
was  Lullier  who  invaded  the  Tuileries,  the 
greater  number  of  the  Mairies,  and  on  the  following 
day  the  Ministères  in  succession.  Great  impor- 
tance was  attached  as  usual  to  the  possession  of  the 
Hôtel  de  Ville.  A  first  attempt  to  seize  it  did  not 
succeed,  thanks  to  the  firmness  of  M.  Ferry  ;  but 
a  formal  order  to  withdraw  having  been  sent 
by  the  Government  during  the  evening,  some 
federal  battalions  entered  the  Hôtel  de  Ville, 
and,  to  their  profound  astonishment,  found  it 
completely  deserted.  The  members  of  the  Cen- 
tral Committee  followed  them  closely.  They  in- 
stalled themselves  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Mayor  of 
Paris,  and  thought  of  nothing  now  but  reigning. 
M.  Thiers  was  already  at  Versailles.  The  minis- 
ters, the  army,  all  the  government  officials  were 
about  to  join  him. 

M.  Thiers  had  decided  upon  departure  from 
the  moment  at  which  it  became  evident  that  the 
National  Guard  belonging  to  the  party  of  order 
would  not  act.  On  the  previous  day  he  had  said 
to  M.  Jules  Simon,  "  I  hope  the  National  Guard — 


THE    CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  275 

ours — will  make  up  their  minds  this  time.  If  they 
turn  out  in  great  numbers,  their  presence  alone  will 
ensure  us  the  fidelity  of  the  army.  With  them  we 
are  strong;  the  Federals  will  not  dare  to  resist; 
we  shall  recover  the  cannon  without  striking  a 
blow,  and  the  Central  Committee  will  be  dissolved. 
If  the  National  Guard  does  not  show,  we  have  only 
the  hope  left  that  the  Committee  will  not  venture 
to  commence  the  contest  ;  in  that  case  we  shall  live 
as  we  have  done  for  the  last  fifteen  days,  that  is  to 
say  barely  existing,  and  we  shall  see  what  happens. 
But  if  there  is  resistance,  if  the  army  be  not  firm, 
we  have  but  one  means  of  preventing  a  revolution 
which  would  be  the  ruin  of  France  ;  it  is  to  leave 
Paris,  and  reorganize  the  army  at  Versailles.  This 
is  the  plan  which  succeeded  with  Windischgraetz 
after  the  events  of  Vienna,  and  it  was  this  I  advised 
during  the  days  of  June,  1848,  in  case  of  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Insurrection."  In  June,  1848,  the 
National  Guard  were  aware  that  they  were  face  to 
face  with  social  war,  and  their  presence  on  the  side  of 
the  army  had  decided  the  victory.  M.  Thiers  hoped 
still,  all  through  the  morning  of  the  18th,  that  they 
would  appear  ;  but  when  he  learned  that  only  a  few 
men  had  come  to  the  meeting-places  of  the  different 
companies,  he  said  to  those  about  him,  "  Our  duty 
is  to  retire,"  and  when  a  murmur  arose,  "  France 
is  in  question,"  said  he,  *'  and  not  ourselves.'* 

T  2 


276  THE    GOVERNMENT    OE    M.    THIERS. 

The  mayors  and  the  Eepublican  deputies  of 
Paris,  who  from  the  first  acted  the  part  of 
peace-makers,  and  persevered  in  doing  so  until 
the  election  of  the  Commune,  met  several  times 
during  the  day  on  the  18th.  At  one  of  these 
meetings  which  took  place  towards  three  o'clock  at 
the  Mairie  of  the  2nd  arrondissement,  several  of 
its  members  were  despatched  to  M.  Picard  and 
to  General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladines.  Nothing 
but  talk  took  place,  no  proposals  were  made,  no 
conclusion  was  reached.  Another  meeting,  more 
numerous  than  the  first,  held  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening  at  the  Mairie  of  the  1st  arrondissement, 
passed  some  decided  resolutions.  The  members 
thought  they  should  conquer  the  hesitation  of  the 
republican,  but  not  socialist  National  Guard,  by 
appointing  M.  Dorian,  Mayor  of  Paris,  M.  Edmond 
Adam,  Prefect  of  Police,  M.Langlois,  Commandant- 
in- Chief  of  the  National  Guard,  and  General  Billot, 
Commandant-in-Chief  of  the  Army  of  Paris.  Most 
of  these  personages,  among  them  General  Billot, 
were  absent  whilst  they  were  being  thus  disposed 
of.  A  Commission  composed  of  Messieurs  Tirard, 
Yautrain,  Vacherot,  Bonvalet,  Méline,  Tolain, 
Hérisson,  Millière,  and  Peyrat,  was  charged  to 
carry  these  proposals  to  the  Government. 
Subsequent  events  have  shown  that  even  had 
the  Government  accepted  them,  the  insurrection 
would  have  taken  its  course  ail  the  same. 


THE  CENTEAL  COMMITTEE.  277 

The  National  Guard,  decimated  by  departures 
for  tlie  provinces,  disheartened  by  the  siege,  irri- 
tated against  the  Assembly,  lacked  organization, 
and  cohesion.  The  Central  Committee,  flushed 
with  victory,  would  have  refused  to  disarm. 
When  the  Commission  presented  itself  in  the 
evening  at  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
M.  Thiers  had  already  left  for  Versailles.  The 
delegates  had  a  brief  interview  with  M.  Jules 
Favre,  who  had  just  been  apprised  of  the  assassi- 
nation of  the  two  generals  ;  they  found  M.  Ernest 
Picard  at  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior.  The 
Minister  promised  to  transmit  their  message.  He 
knew  afterwards,  indeed  he  even  then  saw  what 
the  mayors  of  Paris  would  not  see;  that  there 
was  neither  National  Guard  nor  Army.  The 
proposal  was,  however,  adopted  by  the  Govern- 
ment a  few  hours  later,  on  the  advice  of 
M.  Picard,  not  that  they  were  mistaken  about 
it,  but  simply  in  order  to  have  it  to  say  that 
no  means  of  pacification  had  been  left  untried. 
After  their  return  to  the  Mairie  of  the  1st  arron- 
dissement, the  delegates  were  consulting  with 
their  colleagues  who  had  remained  there,  when 
M.  Mahias,  Secretary-General  to  the  Mairie  of 
Paris  was  introduced.  He  came  to  inform  them 
that  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  was  deserted,  and  to 
entreat  them  to  take  possession  of  it,  so  that  the 
treasury  and  the  archives  might  not  be  left  at 


278      THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

the  mercy  of  tlie  Insurgents.  Unlike  M.  Jules 
Ferry,  wlio  was  only  tlie  delegate  of  the  Govern- 
ment, the  mayors  of  the  arrondissements  had  been 
elected  by  universal  suffrage  ;  many  of  them  were 
likewise  representatives  of  the  Seine  ;  they  believed 
that  their  authority  w^ould  be  respected,  especially 
when  they  should  present  themselves  as  negoti- 
ators between  Paris  and  Versailles.  The  meeting 
immediately  despatched  some  of  its  members  to 
the  Hôtel  de  Ville.  The  Federal  battalions 
arrived  there  at  the  same  time,  and  almost  as 
soon  the  Members  of  the  Central  Committee,  who 
refused  to  receive  them,  stating  that  they  them- 
selves would  lake  such  measures  as  the  circum- 
stances might  require.  The  delegates  of  the 
Municipalities  returned  with  this  answer  to  the 
Mairie  of  the  1st  arrondissement,  where  M.  Ferry 
had  just  arrived.  They  had  scarcely  entered 
when  the  Mairie  was  surrounded  by  a  detachment 
of  Federals  sent  by  the  Central  Committee. 
These  men  did  not  go  quite  so  far  as  to  arrest  the 
mayor  and  the  de23uties  of  Paris,  but  allowed 
them  to  depart  on  giving  their  names.  They 
adjourned  to  the  Mairie  of  the  2nd  arrondisse- 
ment. M.  Ferry,  who  would  undoubtedly  have 
been  arrested,  got  out  unperceived,  through  a 
little  door  wbicli  opened  on  the  square  between 
the  Mairie  and  the  Church  of  Saint  Germain 
r  Auxerrois. 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  279 

Shortly  after  midniglit  M.  Labiclie,  Secretary- 
General  to  tlie  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  brought 
the  nomination  of  Colonel  Langlois  as  general- 
in-chief  of  the  National  Guard  to  the  mayors 
and  deputies  assembled  at  the  2nd  arrondisse- 
ment. M.  Langlois  was  with  him.  M.  Labiche 
also  announced  that  the  Government  intended  to 
appoint  M.  Dorian  Mayor  of  Paris,  and  that  the 
municipal  elections  were  to  take  place  without 
delay.  These  resolutions,  which  met  the  wishes  of 
the  mayors  and  the  Republican  deputies,  had  been 
taken  at  a  secret  meeting  held  by  the  Ministers 
in  the  Rue  Abattucci,  at  the  residence  of  M.  Cal- 
mon,  Under-Secretary  of  State  for  the  Interior. 
This  place  of  meeting  had  been  selected  because  the 
Ministers  were  beset  by  alarmists  and  advisers.  M. 
Jules  Simon  arrived  there  about  nine  o'clock,  ac- 
companied by  Admiral  Pothuau  and  Count  Roger 
du  Nord.  Two  unknown  persons  were  waiting 
for  him  at  the  door,  although  the  place  of  meeting 
had  been  kept  a  profound  secret.  "  Do  not 
enter,"  they  exclaimed,  "  the  house  is  about  to  be 
surrounded  !  "  They  then  hastily  gave  him  some 
details  of  the  assassination  of  the  two  generals, 
the  accuracy  of  which  was  afterwards  proved,  and 
went  away,  repeating  their  warning  with  emphasis, 
but  refusing  to  give  their  names.  M.  Dufaure 
and  General  Le  Flo  came  an  hour  after  ;  Messieurs 
Jules  Favre  and  Picard  late  in  the  night.     First 


280  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

the  double  assassination  was  discussed,  then  it 
was  said,  "  "We  must  act."  The  appointment  of 
Colonel  Langlois  was  already  agreed  upon,  and 
the  Ministers  sent  for  him  ;  he  accepted  it  with  his 
usual  courage  and  devotion.  It  was  decided  that 
on  the  following  day  the  appointment  of  M.  Dorian 
as  Mayor  of  Paris  should  be  proposed  to  M.  Thiers, 
and  that  a  bill  to  regulate  the  municipal  elections 
should  be  presented  to  the  Chamber.  The 
bill  was  to  be  brought  in  before  the  sitting  of  the 
20th  March  ;  it  should  be  applied  to  all  the  com- 
munes in  order  to  save  time  ;  and  urgency  should 
be  demanded. 

M.  Picard  undertook  to  draw  up  the  bill,  which 
was  to  contain  only  two  clauses  ;  and  M.  Jules 
Simon  wrote  a  last  appeal  to  the  National  Guard, 
to  be  posted  in  Paris  on  the  following  morning. 
"  Who  are  the  members  of  this  Committee  ?  "  said 
the  proclamation.  "  No  one  in  Paris  knows  them  ; 
whomsoever  they  be  they  are  the  enemies  of 
Paris,  which  they  are  giving  up  to  pillage;  of 
France,  which  they  are  delivering  to  the  Prussians  ; 
and  of  the  Republic  which  they  will  hand  over 
to  despotism.  The  abominable  crimes  that 
they  have  committed  deprive  those  who  would 
dare  to  follow  or  to  submit  to  them  of  all 
excuse.  Do  you  wish  to  share  the  responsibility  of 
their  assassinations,  and  of  the  ruin  which  they 
will   work  ?      Then,   remain    at    home  !     But   if 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  281 

you  regard  your  honour  and  your  most  sacred 
interests,  in  that  case  assemble  at  the  call  of  the 
Government  and  the  National  Assembly." 

The  Council  broke  up  at  midnight.  Messieurs 
Picard  and  Jules  Favre  passed  the  remainder  of 
the  night  at  M.  Calmon's  house,  where  they 
received  a  formal  and  pressing  order  from  M. 
Thiers  to  repair  immediately  to  Versailles.  Mes- 
sieurs Dufaure,  Jules  Simon,  and  their  colleagues 
directed  their  steps  towards  the  École  Militaire, 
from  whence  they  set  out  before  daybreak,  at  the 
same  time  as  the  army. 

M.  Langlois  went  first,  as  we  have  seen,  withM. 
Labiche,  to  the  Mairie  of  the  2nd  arrondissement, 
where  his  colleagues,  the  deputies  of  the  Seine, 
were  sitting  in  permanence.  He  left  them  to  go 
to  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  The  Central  Committee 
received  him  immediately.  He  informed  the 
members  present  of  the  decisions  of  the  Govern- 
ment. He  was  asked,  "  By  whom  have  you  been 
appointed?"  "By  the  Government,  by  M. 
Thiers."  *'  We  do  not  recognize  his  authority  ; 
the  National  Guard  will  appoint  its  own  chiei'." 
.  M.  Langlois  retired  ;  as  he  could  no  longer  hope 
to  be  recognized  by  the  Federals,  he  thought, 
with  some  reason,  that  his  appointment  had  no 
further  object,  and  he  hastened  to  the  Journal 
Officiel^  to  withdraw  his  order  of  the  day,  which 


282  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP  M.    THIERS. 

was  already  composed,  and  was  to  appear  on  the 
morrow.  On  Sunday  morning  the  insurgents 
did  not  fail  to  heap  insults  on  the  Government, 
"  which  had  vanished  before  the  breath  of  the 
people."  They  could  not  sufficiently  express  their 
anger  and  contempt  for  the  "  fugitives."  Many 
Parisians  belonging  to  the  party  of  order  shared 
this  indignation.  They  felt  that  they  had  been 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  insurgents,  and 
accused  "  a  Government  which  deserted  its  post 
and  its  duty." 

It  might  have  been  said,  in  reply,  that  they  had 
only  themselves  to  blame.  For  four-and-twenty 
hours  the  drums  had  beat  to  arms  incessantly  in 
the  very  quarters  inhabited  by  these  complainants. 
How  many  National  Guards  had  answered  to  the 
call  ?  Scarcely  600  ;  a  number  which  could  avail 
nothing.  The  Government,  reduced  to  the  neces- 
sity of  yielding  to  the  rising,  or  of  opposing  it  with 
the  feeble  army  at  their  command,  had  chosen, 
courageously,  and  perhaps  imprudently  (such  was 
the  opinion  of  General  Vin oy),  the  latter  alterna- 
tive ;  but  the  only  weapon  which  remained  to  them 
had  burst  in  their  hands.  Half  the  army  had 
betrayed  them,  and  was  now  shoutiog  in  the  streets 
with  the  insurgents,  and  preparing  to  change  its 
colours.  Under  these  conditions  the  Government 
might  certainly  have   remained  in    Paris,  like  a 


THE   CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  283 

sentinel  who  lets  himself  be  killed  at  his  post.  Next 
day  the  Central  Committee  would  have  arrested 
M.  Thiers  and  his  ministers,  and  kept  them  as 
hostages,  or  allowed  them  to  meet  the  fate  of 
Lecomte  and  Clément  Thomas.  Was  it  to 
avoid  a  similar  fate  that  the  Government  had 
retired  to  Yersailles  ?  In  truth,  it  would  be 
judging  human  nature  very  harshly  to  arrive  at 
such  a  conclusion.  All  the  ministers  were  men 
who  would  fearlessly  have  awaited  the  course  of 
events  ;  they  had  all  given  proofs  during  their 
lives  of  courao^e  more  difficult  than  that.  The 
effect  on  the  country  of  their  arrest  or  death 
was  what  they  had  to  consider,  without  a  thought 
for  their  personal  safety,  and  the  question  studied 
under  that  aspect  could  only  be  answered  by 
their  departure  ;  not  that  the  Ministers,  with  the 
exception  of  M.  Thiers,  were  individually  neces- 
sary, but  because  a  change  of  Government,  under 
such  circumstances  as  those  which  would  have  pro- 
duced it,  must  necessarily  have  been  attended  with 
disastrous  consequences.  Let  us  first  convince 
ourselves  that  they  had  no  longer  any  means  of 
resistance.  The  attempt  which  was  rashness  on 
the  18th  would  have  been  insanity  on  the  19th. 
Was  the  National  Guard  with  the  Government  ? 
Certainly  not  !  When  Admiral  Saisset  was  in  com- 
mand, it  was  estimated  that  he  might  count  upon 


284  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

20,000  men;  but  supposing  the  figures  to  be  exact, 
scarcely  a  fourth,  of  the  number  could  be  relied  on 
for  any  vigorous  enterprise.  The  battalions  had 
all  one  common  anxiety,  the  defence  of  their  own 
quarters,  and  the  maintenance  of  order  in  them. 
The  admiral  went  to  Passy,  where  he  was  personally 
popular  ;  he  asked  for  two  battalions  to  recover 
the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  and  the  Elysée  ;  300 
men  came  !  Thus  the  Government  had  not  the 
National  Guard  with  them.  And  the  Army  ?  As 
a  general  rule,  it  is  always  difficult  to  enlist  the 
army  against  the  people,  when  at  least  a  portion 
of  the  National  Guard  is  not  on  the  side  of  the 
troops.  The  19th  March  tested  the  truth  of  this. 
The  disposition  of  the  army  had  been  ascertained 
on  the  previous  day  :  and  yet,  no,  the  word  is 
out  of  place,  and  an  insult  to  the  real  army.  It 
was  not  an  army  which  was  then  in  Paris  ;  it 
was  only  an  army  in  process  of  formation.  Was 
it  to  be  expected  that  the  15,000  or  20,000 
gathered  together  at  the  Ëcole  Militaire  would  not 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  88th  regiment, 
of  the  120th  or  the  135th?  One  had  only  to 
look  at  them  !  These  soldiers,  who  were  not 
yet  soldiers,  seeing  the  Ministers  imprisoned  or 
killed,  would  inevitably  have  disbanded  them- 
selves. The  Central  Committee  would  no  longer 
have    been    an    insurrectionary,    alongside    of    a 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  285 

regular,  Govemment,  it  would  have  been  the 
only  Government.  Was  ifc  to  be  supposed  that 
the  National  Assembly,  in  whom  the  sovereignty 
resided  and  whose  delegate  M.  Thiers  was,  would 
appoint  a  new  Chief  of  the  Executive  so  promptly 
that  there  should  be  no  interregnum?  What 
would  be  the  choice  of  the  monarchical  majority? 
How  would  the  newly  elected  Chief  of  the  Execu- 
tive be  received  by  the  large  towns,  half  carried 
away  by  the  movement  in  Paris?  how  would  he  be 
received  by  the  French  army  which  the  prelimi- 
naries of  peace  had  sent  beyond  the  Loire,  and  by 
that  other  army  which  the  German  prisons  were 
about  to  yield  up  ?  What  other  name  would  com- 
mand the  unanimity  that  the  name  of  M.  Thiers 
had  produced  ?  A¥ho  was  the  general  that  would 
be  accepted  by  the  Republicans  ?  Who  the  civilian 
that  could  command  the  obedience  of  the  army  ? 
Before  proceeding  to  form  a  new  Government,  the 
Assembly  would  have  to  meet.  Under  what  con- 
ditions ?  In  what  place  ?  Impossible  to  think  of 
Versailles,  for  the  Committee  would  have  occupied 
the  palace  on  the  19th  without  striking  a  blow. 
Whilst  the  scattered  deputies  were  seeking  an 
asylum  and  security  in  some  distant  town,  what 
would  have  become  of  France  ?  to  whom  would  the 
army  have  given  itself  ?  Would  it  have  remembered 
ancient  legends  or  later  defeats  ?    What  would  the 


286  THE    GOVEENMÈNT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

Germans,  our  enemies  of  yesterday,  wlio  still 
occupied  a  third  of  our  territory,  have  done  in 
this  terrible  interregnum  ?  When  the  Government 
■with  which  they  had  treated  had  disappeared, 
would  they  not  have  declared  the  peace  broken  ? 
They  might  take  Paris,  march  on  the  Loire,  dis- 
perse our  shattered,  uncommanded  army,  or  treat 
with  the  man  who  had  ruined  us,  and  give  him  a 
semblance  of  sovereignty  under  the  protection  of 
their  bayonets  !  Every  one  knew  that  a  few  weeks 
previously  they  had  contemplated  an  alliance  with 
the  Empress.  M.  Thiers  saw  all  this  at  a  glance. 
He  understood  that  it  was  necessary  to  make 
sure  of  the  safety  of  the  Assembly,  to  preserve  a 
Government  to  France,  to  save  the  remnant 
of  the  army  of  Paris  from  the  shame  of  fresh 
defection  or  disarmament.  Civil  war  had  become 
inevitable  ;  he  wanted  to  wage  it  with  the  chances 
of  victory  assured.  Paris  cried  out  the  day  after, 
"I  am  forsaken!"  but,  by  remaining  in  the  city, 
the  Government  would  have  ruined  Paris,  and  with 
it,  France. 

M.  Thiers  left  Paris  on  the  18th,  at  five  in  the 
afternoon,  after  having  given  a  written  order  for 
the  departure  of  the  army  and  the  evacuation  of 
the  forts  on  the  left  bank,  so  that  the  insurgents 
might  have  no  easy  victories.  Several  of  his 
ministers  had  resisted  ;  M.  Jules  Favre,  M.  Picard, 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  287 

the  Mayor  of  Paris.  M.  Jules  Ferry,  wlio  for  fifteen 
days  had  asked  for  a  successor,  but  none  the  less 
had  done  his  duty  with  indomitable  energy,  wrote 
that  he  would  remain  at  the  Hôtel  de  Yille  with 
500  men.  He  received  a  formal  order  to  with- 
draw, but  did  so  only  when  the  last  man  on  duty 
had  left  the  building.  The  departure  of  the  army 
was  not  effected  without  danger.  The  last  regi- 
ments hesitated  to  advance,  and  looked  back 
lingeringly.  General  Yinoy,  who  was  obliged  to  go 
in  person  more  than  once  to  rally  them  and  urge 
them  forward,  placed  gendarmes  who  could  be 
relied  on,  in  the  rear,  to  prevent  desertion.  The 
snow  covered  the  earth  like  a  winding-sheet.  It 
was  still  dark  when  the  last  soldiers  crossed  the 
Seine.  From  Sevres  onwards,  the  General  placed 
outposts,  and  arranged  everything  for  the  defence 
of  Versailles.  A  regiment  which  had  not  received 
notice  in  time,  and  remained  shut  up  in  the 
gardens  of  the  Luxembourg,  resisted  all  tempta- 
tions and  bribes,  forced  the  gates,  crossed  Paris 
with  drums  beating,  and  came  to  join  the  French 
army  at  Versailles.  This  was  the  63rd  regiment  ; 
almost  all  the  men  belonged  to  the  Marines,  and 
the  45th  of  the  line. 

On  arriving  at  Versailles  on  the  19th,  at  4  a.m., 
M.  Jules  Simon  alighted  at  the  Prefecture,  and 
found  the  President  of  the  Council  already  up.    He 


288       THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

asked  him  if  he  had  thought  of  sending  troops  to 
Mont  Valerien,  which,  as  he  had  just  learned  at 
the  École  Militaire,  was  garrisoned  only  by  two 
disarmed  battalions  of  Chasseurs-à-pied.  M.  Thiers 
thanked  him  warmly,  but  said  that  a  fortress  like 
Mont  Valérien  could  not  be  carried  by  skirmishers, 
or  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  that  there  were 
cannon  there  and  a  resolute  commander,  and  that 
a  single  shell  would  be  sufficient  to  put  a  tumul- 
tuous mob  of  the  National  Guards  to  flight,  that 
an  attack  in  form  with  sufficient  forces  was  not  to 
be  feared  on  this  first  day,  but  that  he  was  aware 
of  the  necessity  for  prompt  action.  The  difficulty 
was  not  in  sending  a  regiment,  but  in  finding  one  to 
send.  Several  Deputies,  amongst  them  M.  Buffet, 
came  during  the  morning  to  express  their  uneasi- 
ness on  the  same  subject.  General  Vinoy,  warned 
by  a  despatch  from  Colonel  Lochner,  who  com- 
manded the  fort,  consulted  with  M.  Thiers  respect- 
ing a  trustworthy  regiment.  Their  choice  fell  on 
the  119th  of  the  line,  commanded  by  Colonel  Chol- 
leton.  This  regiment,  which  had  been  quartered 
at  Versailles  since  the  12th,  and  billeted  among 
the  inhabitants,  was  very  steady  and  animated  by 
an  excellent  spirit.  The  orders  were  given  on  the 
20th  March,  at  1  a.m.  The  Federals  presented 
themselves  at  Mount  Valerien  on  the  eveuino:  of 
the  same  day,  to  take  possession,  but  they  found  it 


THE    CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  289 

strongly  occupied.  They  retired  with  precipitation, 
and  no  other  attempt  was  made  on  the  fort  until 
the  battle  of  the  3rd  April. 

M.  Thiers  sent  the  following  circular  to  be  dis- 
tributed in  the  departments;  and  thenceforth 
until  Paris  was  retaken,  he  wrote  the  bulletins, 
which  were  despatched  by  telegraph  to  the 
prefects  every  evening  with  his  own  hand. 

«Versailles,  19th  March,  1871,  8.25  a.m. 

"  The  entire  Government  is  at  Versailles,  and  the 
Assembly  is  collecting  there.  The  army,  also,  to 
the  number  of  40,000  men,  is  concentrated  in 
good  order  under  the  command  of  General  Vinoy. 
All  the  authorities  and  all  the  commanding  officers 
have  arrived  at  Versailles. 

"  The  authorities,  both  civil  and  military,  will 
execute  no  orders  except  those  of  the  legal  Govern- 
ment residing  at  Versailles,  under  pain  of  for- 
feiture. The  members  of  the  National  Assembly 
are  requested  to  hasten  their  return  in  order  to  be 
present  at  the  sitting  of  the  20th  March. 

"  The  present  despatch  is  to  be  made  known  to 
the  public.  A.  Thiers." 

All  the  employés  in  public  departments 
were  ordered  to  Versailles  at  once,  so  that 
they  might  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  Govern- 
ment. This  measure  was  indispensable  for 
the   transaction   of  public   business,  and  it   also 

VOL.  I.  U 


290       THE  GOVEENMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

deprived  the  insurrection  of  a  dangerous  weapon. 
Only  those  employés  whose  presence  in  Paris 
was  necessary  were  excepted;  such  as  Hospital 
doctors,  head  masters  of  educational  establish- 
ments where  there  were  boarders,  custodians 
of  museums  or  libraries,  and  the  officials  of 
the  Bank  of  France  with  the  exception  of  the 
Governor.  It  was  absolutely  indispensable  that 
he  should  be  within  reach  of  the  Chief  of  the 
Executive.  All  these  officials  were  speedily 
installed  in  the  palace* 

The  town  of  Versailles  was  no  longer  recog- 
nizable. Strange  to  say,  nothing  had  been 
altered  in  it  except  its  physiognomy,  which  was 
woe-begone.  The  Prussians,  always  very  orderly 
under  the  eye  of  the  master,  had  destroyed 
nothing.  A  few  placards  in  the  German 
language  in  the  railway  stations,  and  on  the 
barrack  walls  ;  a  great  deal  of  dirt  in  the  streets, 
was  all  that  remained  of  them  out-of-doors. 
The  late  occupants  had,  however,  left  traces  of 
their  presence  in  the  restaurants  and  cafés  to 
which  the  new  arrivals  flocked.  These  places 
looked  like  German  taverns,  and  smelt  of  tobacco, 
beer,  and  leather.  The  town  was  in  a  state 
of  famine,  there  was  nothing  to  eat.  The  king, 
or  rather,  since  he  gave  himself  that  title 
at   Versailles,   the   Emperor,   had    lived    at    the 


THE    CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  291 

Hôtel  de  la  Préfecture.  Nothing  was  clianged  tliere. 
When  leaving,  he  stopped  his  carriage  just  as  he 
was  passing  through  the  gates,  and  calling  the 
porter,  showed  him  a  little  gilt  candlestick,  of  no 
value,  which  he  held  in  his  hand.  "  I  take  this 
as  a  souvenir,"  said  he  ;  "  let  no  one  be  disturbed 
about  it." 

M.  Jules  Simon,  accompanied  by  the  custodians 
of  the  Museum,  inspected  the  entire  palace,  even  to 
the  garrets  ;  nothing  had  been  disturbed  ;  two 
frames  only,  which  had  enclosed  small  pictures  of 
no  importance, were  empty;  the  canvas  had  been  cut 
close  to  the  edge.  M.  Thiers  installed  himself  at  the 
Préfecture  which  the  Emperor  had  just  vacated, 
like  a  new  prefect  who  occupies  the  apartments 
and  the  cabinet  of  his  predecessor.  The  avenues, 
and  the  Place  d'Armes  in  front  of  the  palace 
were  crowded  with  soldiers  under  canvas.  The 
huts  at  Satory,  which  had  been  vacated  by  the 
Germans,  were  not  sufficient  to  accommodate  the 
troops.  Men,  horses,  and  guns  were  crowded 
together  in  the  midst  of  mud  and  hastily  swept  up 
snow.  Cooking,  by  the  light  of  blazing  faggots,  was 
done  in  the  open;  there  was  no  order  or  discipline; 
a  look  of  anger  and  defiance  was  on  every  face  ; 
it  was  like  a  Tartar  horde  rather  than  a  camp. 
The  soldiers  no  longer  saluted  their  officers, 
but  looked  threateningly  at  them  as  they  passed. 


292  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

Entire  families  were  seen  making  tlieir  way 
through  this  crowd  with  their  parcels  and  boxes. 
These  were  bourgeois  who  had  fled  from  Paris,  em- 
ployés who  had  followed  their  chiefs,  and  deputies 
arriving  from  the  departments  for  the  meeting  of 
the  Assembly  on  the  20th  March. 

The  deputies  were  in  their  places  at  the  ap- 
pointed hour.  All  were  alarmed  and  indignant, 
but  there  were  gradations  in  their  sentiments 
according  to  their  politics.  It  could  easily  be 
seen  that  the  Republicans  meditated  conciliation, 
and  the  Monarchists  vengeance.  The  murder  of 
Clément  Thomas  and  Lecomte  immensely  enhanced 
the  gravity  of  the  situation.  It  was  no  longer  a 
political  insurrection  that  had  to  be  dealt  with  ;  it 
was  a  social  war  which  revived  all  the  detested 
recollections  of  the  terror.  This  was  the  impres- 
sion of  all  France  ;  the  members  of  the  Central 
Committee  themselves  felt  it.  They  were  divided 
between  anxiety  to  exculpate  themselves  from 
participation  in  these  outrages,  and  a  savage  de- 
light in  them  which  they  felt,  and  could  not  con- 
ceal. In  the  same  number  of  the  Journal  Officiel 
of  the  19th  March,  they  wrote  in  the  first  page  of 
"  the  bloody  mud  with  which  their  honour  had 
been  stained,"  and  on  the  second  page  expressed 
their  indignation  that  this  "  execution  "  should  be 
called   an   "  assassination."     "  These   two  men," 


THE  CENTEAL  COMMITTEE.         293 

said  they,  "  have  suffered  under  the  law  of  War." 
What  more  could  the  men  of  the  Central  Com- 
mittee say  to  render  themselves  objects  of  universal 
execration  ? 

The  sitting  of  the  20th  March  was  commenced 
under  these  impressions. 

M.  Grevy  spoke  as  follows  :  "  The  misfortunes 
of  our  country  seemed  to  have  attained  their 
height.  A  criminal  insurrection,  which  has  not 
even  a  plausible  grievance  or  a  serious  pretext 
to  excuse  it,  has,  however,  been  added  to  them. 
A  factious  Government  sets  itself  up  against  the 
national  sovereignty,  of  which  you  alone  are  the 
legitimate  representatives.  You  must  rise  with 
courage  and  dignity  to  the  height  of  the  solemn 
duties  which  such  a  situation  imposes  on  you. 
Let  the  nation  remain  calm  and  confident.  Let  it 
rally  round  those  whom  it  has  elected  :  Might  will 
remain  with  Right.  The  national  representation 
will  make  itself  respected,  and  will  accomplish 
its  mission  unmoved,  staunching  the  wounds  of 
France,  and  securing  the  stability  of  the  Republic 
in  spite  of  those  who  compromise  it  by  the  crimes 
that  they  commit  in  its  name." 

The  civil  war  had  existed  de  facto  in  Paris  since 
the  end  of  January,  and  it  began,  we  may  say, 
officially,  on  the  18th  March,  when  an  insurrectional 
Government  installed  itself  in  the  Hôtel  de  Ville. 


294  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

If  tte  Germans  did  not  intervene  and  profit  hj 
our  fresli  misfortunes,  the  issue  of  the  conflict 
could  not  be  doubtfuh  The  immense  majority 
of  the  country  was  with  the  Assembly  and  the 
legal  Government.  The  Central  Committee  tried 
hard  to  bring  over  the  large  towns  to  its  side.  In 
its  letters  and  proclamations,  it  was  said  that  the 
"  rustics  "  desired  to  make  peace  at  the  expense 
of  the  large  towns,  that  they  wanted  to  bring  us 
back  to  Monarchy;  and  that  the  enlightened 
population  of  the  large  towns  had  a  right  to  rule 
the  destinies  of  France.  They  sent  emissaries 
to  Lyons,  Marseilles,  and  Bordeaux,  to  all  the 
great  centres  ;  on  the  23rd  March,  the  Commune 
was  proclaimed  at  Lyons  and  Marseilles,  on  the 
24tli,  at  Toulouse;  there  were  troubles  at  Beziers, 
at  Narbonne.  Saint  Etienne  was  moving,  like 
Paris  it  had  its  assassination  ;  the  new  prefect, 
M.  de  l'Espée,  was  murdered  on  the  very  day 
of  his  arrival.  In  spite  of  all  this,  nobody  in 
the  Assembly  felt  any  doubt  of  ultimate  suc- 
cess. 

M.  Thiers,  especially,  was  very  confident. 
"  The  Prussians  will  not  stir  so  long  as  the  con- 
ditions of  the  treaty  are  executed.  The  insurrec- 
tion of  two  or  three  towns  will  be  the  affair  of  a 
few  days.  France,  in  its  entirety,  is  with  us.  I 
shall  reorganize  the  Arm}^"  said  he  ;  "I  answer 


THE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE.         295 

for  it.  We  shall  take  Paris,  or  Paris  will  sur- 
render. We  have  the  majority,  even  in  Paris." 
Such  was  his  language,  in  private,  at  the  Council, 
in  the  lobbies  of  the  Chamber,  in  the  tribune,  in 
his  correspondence  with  the  generals,  the  prefects, 
and  our  diplomatic  agents.  He  never  ceased  to 
work  for  success,  and  to  reckon  on  it.  We  shall 
see  that  his  previsions  were  realized  in  every  par- 
ticular. 

In  the  Assembly,  in  all  France,  but  especially 
in  Paris,  opinion  was  divided.  One  party  be- 
lieved the  present  struggle  to  be  terminable 
by  force  only  ;  the  other,  in  spite  of  everything, 
believed  in  the  possibility  of  conciliation.  The 
very  idea  of  conciliation,  whatever  its  basis, 
seemed  criminal  to  the  majority  of  the  Assembly, 
whose  anger  increased  in  proportion  as  the 
Parisian  insurrection  developed  itself. 

The  mayors  of  Paris  (there  were  several 
amongst  the  members  of  the  Assembly)  ascending 
the  tribune  to  plead  for  mild  measures  on  behalf 
of  the  immense  Parisian  population,  who  were 
victims  of  the  Central  Committee  and  not  its 
accomplices,  were  received  as  though  they  were 
partisans  of  the  insurrection  ;  they,  who  ever  since 
the  18th  March,  had  been  risking  their  lives  in 
opposing  it.  The  majority  met  the  most  just 
and  least  revolutionary  proposals, — for  instance. 


296  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

the  proposal  to  vote  urgency  for  the  Municipal 
Councils  bill  by  such  interruptions  as  the  follow- 
ing :— 

"  Paris  must  first  disarm,  and  afterwards,  we 
shall  see  !  Paris  must  submit,  do  you  hear  !  Yes, 
Paris  must  submit  !  Let  us  call  up  the  provinces 
and  march  on  Paris,  if  necessary;  this  must  be 
put  a  stop  to  !  "  Not  only  was  Paris  attacked, 
but  the  mayors  were  personally  insulted.  M. 
Tirard,  who  had  displayed  great  courage  in  his 
conflict  with  the  Revolution,  was  taunted  thus  : — 
"  Blame  your  friends  at  least.  Blame  the  cut- 
throats I  "  At  the  sitting  of  the  28th  March, 
Count  de  la  Rochethulon,  after  having  shown 
the  Assembly  a  strip  of  paper  which  had  been 
pasted  on  the  door  of  his  house,  in  Paris,  with  the 
words  "  Good  for  shooting,"  printed  on  it  in  large 
letters,  said, — 

"  I  beg  my  honourable  colleagues  of  the  Left, 
now  masters  of  Paris,  to  have  the  kindness  to  tell 
their  colleagues  that  I  consider  myself  in  a  state  of 
legitimate  defence  ;"  and  as  a  violent  commotion 
arose,  and  M.  de  la  Hochethulon  was  called  on 
to  explain  himself,  he  added,  showing  a  notice 
signed  by  the  mayors  of  Paris, — 

"It  is  a  positive  fact  that  certain  members  of 
this  Assembly,  who  have,  or  have  not  resigned, 
are  on  terms  with  the  Insurgents." 


THE    CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  297 

M.  Prax-Paris,  speaking  of  the  mayors  of  Paris 
at  the  sitting  of  the  4th  April,  called  them  "  The 
accredited  Ambassadors  of  the  Insurrection." 
The  mayors  of  Paris  and  deputies  of  the  Seine, 
who  were  received  in  this  fashion  at  the  Assembly, 
were  in  no  greater  favour  with  the  leaders  of  the 
Insurrection. 

At  Versailles  they  were  insulted,  at  Paris  their 
appointments  were  cancelled,  they  were  expelled 
from  their  Mairies,  and  imprisoned.  The  Com- 
mittee, intending  to  hold  the  Communal  elections 
on  the  22nd,  had  directed  the  mayors  to  preside 
at  them.  To  do  so  would  have  been  to  associate 
themselves  with  the  insurrection  ;  they  refused. 
Their  resistance  exasperated  the  Committee,  who 
called  it  resisting  the  people,  and  had,  in  fact, 
already  occupied  the  greater  number  of  the 
Mairies.  This  was  one  of  Lullier's  exploits  on 
the  19th  ;  the  measure  was  confirmed  and  made 
general  on  the  23rd,  after  the  refusal  of  the 
mayors.  Henri,  one  of  the  "  generals,"  said, 
"We  must  occupy  the  dissentient  Mairies  by 
faithful  battalions.  When  there  are  no  faithful 
battalions  in  the  arrondissement,  recourse  must 
be  had  to  the  battalions  of  the  Hôtel  de  Ville." 

This  was  the  case  in  the  9th  arrondissement,  as 
the  following  proclamation  of  the  mayor,  M. 
Desmarest,  proves  : — "  The  invasion  of  our  Mairie 


298  THE   GOVEENMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

by  a  military  force  unknown  to  the  9tli  arrondisse- 
ment puts  a  stop  for  the  present  to  the  transaction 
of  the  pubHc  business,  of  which  we  have  accepted 
the  charge  and  the  honour.'* 

All  the  Mairies,  except  those  of  the  1st  and 
2nd  arrondissements,  were  invaded  either  by 
the  federal  battalions  of  the  arrondissement,  or 
by  the  praGtorians  of  the  Hôtel  de  Ville.  Several 
of  the  mayors  published  protests  like  the  follow- 
ing:— "The  Mayor  and  assistants  of  the  17th 
arrondissement,  dispossessed  by  force,  declare 
that  from  this  day  forth  all  municipal  business 
is  suspended  in  the  arrondissement.  The  use  of 
the  seal  of  the  Mairie,  all  requisitions,  and  the 
employment  of  the  funds  by  the  usurpers,  will 
be  regarded  as  criminal  acts.  The  munici- 
pal officers  reserve  the  authority  that  has  been 
delegated  to  them,  by  universal  suffrage,  and  will 
use  it  according  to  incontestable  right  when  this 
ephemeral  usurpation  shall  have  come  to  an 
end." 

M.  Henri  Martin,  *'  resolved  to  defend  the 
Republic,  and  to  second  the  conciliatory  efforts 
of  the  deputies  of  Paris,"  organized  a  service  of 
protection  and  surveillance,  in  concert  with  the 
officers  of  the  38th  and  72nd  battalions  ;  and 
called  upon  "  all  citizens  devoted  to  the  Republic 
and  friends  of  order,  for  their  aid."     This  example 


THE   CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  299 

was  followed  by  several  arrondissements,  including 
the  3rd.  The  protest  of  M.  Clemenceau  deserves 
to  be  given  in  full.  "  Citizens,  to-day  at  noon 
(the  22nd  March)  the  Mairie  of  the  18th  arron- 
dissement was  invaded  by  an  armed  troop.  An 
officer  of  the  National  Guard  dared  to  summon 
the  Mayor  and  his  assistants  to  give  up  the 
Mairie  to  a  delegate  of  the  Central  Committee  of 
the  National  Guard.  The  Mayor  and  his  assistants, 
wearing  their  municipal  insignia,  and  in  the 
presence  of  all  the  employés  of  the  Mairie,  sum- 
moned the  officer  on  guard  to  expel  the  intruders. 
The  latter,  after  having  conferred  with  his  com- 
mander, replied  that  he  refused  to  execute  this 
order,  and  that  he  was  prepared  to  side  with  the 
violators  of  this  law.  The  ringleaders  then 
arrested  the  Mayor  and  two  of  his  assistants, 
and  took  them  to  the  Guard-house  between  two 
files  of  National  Guards.  Shortly  after,  the  Mayor 
and  his  two  assistants,  elected  by  the  18th  arron- 
dissement, were  informed  that  they  were  '  free 
to  retire.'  Citizens,  we  are  anxious  to  avoid  a 
conflict,  the  disastrous  consequences  of  which  we 
dread  ;  that  is  our  reason  for  yielding  to  force 
without  appealing  to  force  ;  but  we  loudly  protest 
against  the  outrage  which  the  National  Guard 
of  the  18th  arrondissement  has  inflicted  on 
the    person    of    Kepublican    Magistrates,    freely 


300  THE   GOVEENMENT  OF   M.    THIEES. 

elected,  and  who  declare  hereby  that  they  have 
faithfully  discharged  their  duties."  Thus,  not 
only  were  the  mayors  expelled,  they  were  also 
imprisoned.  On  the  23rd  March,  a  proclamation 
of  the  Commission  charged  by  the  Central  Com- 
mittee to  proceed  with  the  municipal  elections 
was  posted  in  the  4th  arrondissement.  It  began 
with  these  words  :  "  The  municipal  officers  of 
the  4th  arrondissement  having  deserted  the 
Mairie,  and  the  departments  being  in  a  state  of 
complete  disorganization. . . ."  In  the  12th  arron- 
dissement the  Central  Committee  had  replaced  the 
elected  municipal  officers  by  a  Commission. 
It  was  the  same  in  the  5th  arrondissement  ;  the 
provisional  mayor,  Eégère,  accepted,  he  said,  his 
appointment  by  the  Central  Committee  "  as  a 
means  of  conciliation  and  order."  To  make  a 
revolution  in  the  name  of  the  communal  liberties, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  expel  the  elected  mayors 
from  their  Mairies,  was  a  mere  trifle  to  the 
Central  Committee. 

The  mayors  of  Paris,  however,  who  had  already 
rendered  so  many  services  during  the  siege,  con- 
ceived that  they  had  a  new  duty  to  fulfil,  a 
duty  no  less  serious  than  the  prevention  of 
bloodshed  ;  and  neither  the  Right  nor  the  In- 
surgents had  the  power  to  turn  them  from  it  for 
a  moment. 


THE  CENTKAL  COMMITTEE.  301 

The  object  of  their  constant  solicitude  was, 
not  the  promoters  of  the  insurrection,  whom 
they  fought  inch  by  inch,  but  the  honest 
Republican  population  to  whom  they  them- 
selves belonged,  and  who,  while  claiming  its 
just  rights  for  the  city  of  Paris,  and  fearful  for 
the  Republic  on  account  of  the  opinions  of  the 
majority  and  the  political  past  of  M.  Thiers,  re- 
garded the  so-called  Government  which  practised 
or  praised  assassination,  subjected  Paris  to  a 
silly  tyranny,  and  boasted  of  making  war  upon 
the  bourgeoisie  in  the  name  of  the  proletariat  with 
horror. 

As  well  as  ringleaders  there  were  dupes;  as 
well  as  dupes  there  were  victims.  "  The  Insur- 
rection of  Paris  "  is  perpetually  spoken  of  :  it 
would  be  more  correct  to  say  of  the  half  of  Paris, 
or  indeed  not  even  the  half,  for  at  most  the 
insurgents  could  reckon  on  only  a  fourth  of  the 
population.  The  proclamation  of  an  insurrectional 
government,  which  led  directly  to  the  Commune, 
and  the  assassination  of  the  two  generals,  had 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  absent  or  the  defaulters  of 
the  18th  March.  They  now  saw  the  abyss  into 
which  they  had  fallen  by  their  own  fault, 
and  only  asked  for  the  means  of  accomplishing 
their  own  rescue.  Nevertheless,  in  the  war  which 
was  impending,  should  it  come  to  war,  the  entire 


302  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP    M.    THIERS. 

population  of  Paris  would  have  to  suffer;  the 
innocent  as  well  as  the  guilty,  and  perhaps  the 
innocent  more  than  the  guilty. 

The  well-disposed  population  had  committed  a 
fault  against  the  country  and  itself  by  its  absence 
on  the  18th  March  ;  in  politics,  however,  one  must 
not  be  pitilessly  just,  but  rather  allow  something 
for  the  weaknesses  of  humanity.  Sixty  thousand 
absentees  from  the  ranks  of  the  well-disposed 
National  Guard  had  placed  it  in  a  minority  ;  it  was 
only  fair  to  give  the  abstainers  the  benefit  of  that 
circumstance,  and  also,  as  some  excuse  for  them, 
to  consider  what  was  the  actual  composition  of 
the  National  Guard.  During  the  siege  everybody 
was  armed,  the  bad  as  well  as  the  good,  chance- 
comers  and  even  foreigners  as  well  as  residents. 
There  was  consequently  a  great  mixture  in  the 
companies.  The  officers  had  been  selected  as 
if  for  an  army,  with  a  view  to  fighting, 
and  not  with  a  view  to  the  preservation  of 
order,  like  a  national  guard.  The  insurrection 
having  been  made  in  the  name  of  the  National 
Guard  by  delegates  and  officers  of  the  National 
Guard,  the  army  of  order  and  that  of  the  Revolution 
had  common  cadres;  and  more  than  one  company, 
the  majority  of  whom  were  enemies  of  the  Commune, 
found  themselves  under  the  command  of  a  Com- 
munist.    A  still  more  inextricable  difficulty  arose 


THE   CENTEAL   COMMITTEE.  303 

from  the  uncertainty  of  the  situation.  The  National 
Guards,  on  whom  the  Government  had  counted, 
believed  themselves  abandoned  by  the  Assembly, 
by  the  Army,  and  by  the  Government  ;  by  the 
Assembly,  which  had  chosen  to  sit  at  Versailles, 
and,  but  for  M.  Thiers,  would  have  retired  as 
far  as  Fontainebleau;  by  the  Army,  which  had 
shown  signs  of  disaffection  on  the  18th  ;  by  the 
Government,  which  had  withdrawn,  for  imperative 
reasons,  no  doubt,  but  such  as  not  every  one 
could  appreciate.  Finally,  (and  this  it  was  which 
weighed  heavily  on  the  minds  of  the  greater 
number,)  they  believed  that  they  only  had  anarchy 
and  monarchy  to  choose  between.  The  Commune 
in  Paris  or  the  King  at  Versailles  ;  a  hard  alter- 
native for  conservative  Republicans.  They  were 
mistaken,  their  alarm  about  the  Government  was 
without  foundation  ;  their  fears  about  the  Assem- 
bly were  exaggerated  ;  and  they  did  not  discern 
communism  and  barbarism  behind  the  Central 
Committee.  In  absenting  themselves  they  made  a 
terrible  mistake,  but  their  error  is  none  the  less  an 
excuse,  which  it  would  be  equally  unjust  and  im- 
politic to  ignore.  The  mayors  believed — they  never 
ceased  to  believe — that  the  party  of  order  would 
rise  in  arms,  with  imposing  unanimity,  so  soon  as 
the  Assembly,  by  proclaiming  the  municipal  fran- 
chises of  Paris,  should  remove  the  last  scruples  of 


304  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

the  hesitating,  and  deprive  the  insurrection  of  the 
pretext  of  which  it  had  availed  itself.  After  all, 
was  this  a  time  for  judging  men  ?  Nothing  was 
to  be  thought  of  except  the  interest  of  the  country, 
and  the  interest  of  the  country  demanded  that  civil 
war  should  be  averted  by  any  means.  Such  were 
the  sentiments  of  the  mayors  of  Paris,  when  with 
indomitable  perseverance  they  interposed  between 
two  kinds  of  equally  violent  though  not  equally 
justified  hatred.  All  their  efforts  were  baffled  by 
the  fixed  determination  of  the  Assembly,  which  in 
its  only  too  legitimate  hatred  of  the  Commune,  and 
in  its  ill-will  towards  Paris,  either  rejected  con- 
ciliatory measures,  or  altered,  under  pretext  of 
amending  them,  or  accepted  them  too  late  ;  and 
by  the  criminal  obstinacy  of  the  Central  Commit- 
tee, who  wanted  to  create  the  Commune,  to  become 
masters  of  it,  and  by  its  means  to  govern  France. 
That  on  both  sides  it  was  a  government  of  combat, 
may  be  admitted  without  any  comparison  between 
the  causes  or  the  persons. 

The  Central  Committee  and  the  mayors  had  held 
several  discussions  during  Saturday  night;  the 
former  sometimes  assuming  a  tone  of  mastery, 
at  others  endeavouring  to  obtain  the  connivance 
of  the  mayors  in  certain  operations  which  had 
been  resolved  upon.  The  Committee  had  not 
been  able  to  come  to  an  agreement  with  them  on 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  305 

any  point.  It  had  published  two  short  proclama- 
tions on  Sunday  morning  the  19th  March, 
one  addressed  to  the  people,  the  other  to  the 
National  Guard.  These  proclamations  bore 
twenty  signatures  only,  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  out  of  the  sixty  names  of  which  the  Central 
Committee  ought  to  have  been  composed  at  the 
rate  of  three  delegates  to  each  arrondissement, 
there  had  never  appeared  on  the  various  proclama- 
tions more  than  forty-eight.  There  are  also  only 
forty-eight  names  on  the  list  of  the  members  com- 
posing the  Committee  furnished  by  General  Vinoy, 
bearing  the  date  of  5th  March.  The  name  of 
Assi  first  figured  on  the  placards  of  the  19th,  so 
that  on  the  Boulevards  de  la  Madeleine  and  des 
Italiens,  "  The  Government  of  M.  Assi  "  was 
spoken  of,  not  without  the  recollection  that  M. 
Assi  had  played  the  principal  part  in  the  strikes 
at  Auzin  and  Creuzot. 

These  proclamations  were  fresh  attacks  on  the 
Government  and  the  Assembly,  which  were  accused 
of  desiring  to  overthrow  the  Eepublic  ;  they  an- 
nounced the  raising  of  the  state  of  seige,  and  "  the 
convocation  of  the  people  of  Paris  in  their  sections 
to  hold  their  communal  elections."  The  Commit- 
tee added,  "  our  mandate  has  expired." 

The  mayors  and  the  deputies  assembled  at  two 
o'clock  at  the  Mairie  of  the  3rd  arrondissement. 

VOL.    T.  X 


306  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIEKS. 

At  the  meeting — whose  state  of  feeling  might  be 
described  by  saying  that  the  Assembly  made  it 
nneasy,  and  the  Committee  made  it  indignant — 
about  forty  majors  were  present.  Above  all,  the 
great  object  was  to  prevent  a  fratricidal  conflict  in 
Paris.  It  was  agreed  on  all  hands  that  confidence 
would  be  restored  if  the  Assembly  granted  an 
immediate  municipal  election  (the  National  Guards 
to  elect  their  own  chiefs),  and  revision  of  the 
act  relating  to  commercial  bills.  The  mayors 
flattered  themselves  that  by  these  concessions  they 
could  obtain  the  retirement  of  the  Committee. 
They  wanted  to  be  invested  with  the  whole  ad- 
ministrative authority.  The  Government,  without 
sharing  all  their  opinions,  but  animated  like  them 
by  a  desire  for  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  situation,  gave  them  full  powers  of 
administration.  In  reality  the  mayors  did  nothing 
but  resume  the  policy  of  temporizing  and  pacifi- 
cation which  they  themselves  had  tried  up  to  the 
18th  March,  which  tliey  could  not  continue 
after  an  open  contest,  but  which,  now  tried  with 
prudence  and  reasonableness  by  men  who  had  been 
elected  by  universal  suffrage,  might  still  have  some 
feeble  chance  of  success. 

The  first  step  was  the  renewal  of  commu- 
nication with  the  leaders  of  the  Insurrection, 
and  the  Central  Committee,  either  uneasy  at  the 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  307 

position,  or  to  gain  time,  or  in  order  to  control  tlie 
municipal  power  which  was  the  outcome  of  univer- 
sal suffrage,  proposed  an  interview.  It  took  place 
in  the  Hôtel  de  Ville.  The  3rd  arrondissement 
was  represented  by  two  Deputies  and  six  mayors 
or  their  assistants.  The  discussion  was  very 
earnest,  and  was  prolonged  until  late  at  night. 

The  Committee  was  immovable  with  respect  to 
what  it  termed  its  rights  over  the  National 
Guard;  this  meant  the  keeping  of  military 
authority  in  its  hands,  but  it  seemed  willing  to 
yield  the  administrative  authority  to  the  mayors. 
The  members  wished  to  deliberate  apart  before 
giving  their  ultimatum.  At  midnight,  Yarlin, 
Jourde,  Boursier,  and  a  fourth  whose  name  is 
unknown,  came  to  inform  the  representatives  of  the 
municipalities  that  the  Committee  reserved  to  itself 
the  military  authority  only.  The  delegates  of 
the  mayors  insisted  that  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  should 
be  restored  to  them,  in  order  to  mark  by  a  visible 
sign  that  the  administrative  authority  was  again 
placed  in  their  hands.  They  carried  this  point, 
and  separated  towards  four  o'clock,  having  agreed 
upon  a  convention,  which  Messieurs  Lanjalley  and 
Corriez,  who  seem  to  have  drawn  their  information 
from  an  official  source,  sum  up  thus  : — 

"  The  municipal  administration  will  be  restored 
at  nine   o'clock   in   the  morning  to   the   elected 

X  2 


308  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

municipal  officers,  represented  by  delegates  ; 
Citizen  Bonvalet,  mayor  of  the  3rd  arrondisse- 
ment ;  Miirat,  assistant-mayor  of  the  10th,  and 
Denizot,  assistant-mayor  of  the  12th,  will  take 
up  their  residence  at  the  above-named  hour  at  the 
Hôtel  de  Viïle. 

The  Central  Committee  will  leave  the  Hôtel  de 
Ville,  and  remove  to  head-quarters  at  the  Place 
Vendôme,  where  it  will  continue  to  rule  the 
National  Guard. 

Finally,  the  deputies  and  mayors  being  unable 
to  grant  the  municipal  elections,  which  the  As- 
sembly alone  can  legally  establish,  will  publish 
a  notice  in  which  they  shall  promise  to  inter- 
cede with  the  Assembly  in  order  to  obtain  these 
elections,  and  also  for  the  same  reason  those 
of  the  officers  of  the  National  Guard  for  all 
ranks. 

"  The  Government  of  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  (Mes- 
sieurs Lanjalley  and  Corriez  designate  the  Central 
Committee  thus)  will,  a  few  hours  after  this 
notice  is  posted,  post  another  announcing  the 
preceding  resolutions  on  their  own  part." 

Matters  looked  now  as  though  they  were  com- 
ing to  a  settlement,  provided  the  Government  and 
the  Assembly  did  not  place  any  obstacle  in  the 
way,  and  the  deputies  set  out  for  Versailles  with 
every  intention  of  keej^ing  their  promises.     Before 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  309 

their  departure  they  caused  the  following  notice 
to  be  posted  on  the  walls  of  Paris  : — 
"  Citizens. 
"  Impressed  with  the  absolute  necessity  of  sav- 
ing Paris  and  the  Republic,  by  removing  all  cause 
of  conflict,  and  convinced  that  the  best  way  to 
attain  this  supreme  object  is  by  satisfying  the 
legitimate  desires  of  the  people,  we  have  resolved 
this  day  to  request  from  the  Assembly  the  adop- 
tion of  two  measures  which,  we  are  in  hopes,  will, 
if  adopted,  contribute  to  restore  composure  to  the 
minds  of  all. 

"  These  two  measures  are — the  election  of  all 
the  chiefs  of  the  National  Guard,  and  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  Municipal  Council  to  be  elected  by 
all  citizens. 

"  What  we  want  is  that  which  is  essential  to 
the  pubUc  welfare  under  all  circumstances,  order, 
with  Hberty  and  through  liberty. 

"  Long  live  France  !     Long  live  the  Pepublic  ! 
"  The  Representatives  of  the  Seine, 
"  Louis  Blanc,  Victor  Schoelcher,  A.  Peyrat, 
Edm.  Adam,  Floquet,  Martin  Bernard, 
Langlois,    Ed.     Lochroy,    Farcy,    ÏÏ. 
Brisson,  Greppo,  Milliere. 
"  The  mayors  and  assistant-mayors  of  Paris." 

(The  signatures  follow.) 
The   conditions   being  fulfilled   on  their  side, 


310  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

MM.  Bonvalet,  Murat,  and  Denizot  presented 
themselves,  on  the  20tli  March,  at  nine  o'clock 
in  tbe  morning  in  order  to  take  possession  of  the 
Hôtel  de  Yille.  But  the  Central  Committee  had 
thought  better  of  it,  and  a  note  was  read  to  the 
Commissioners,  stating  that  "  under  the  present 
circumstances,  the  Committee,  being  responsible 
for  the  consequences  of  the  situation,  could  not 
relinquish  either  the  civil  or  military  power." 

The  Journal  Ojjiciel,  which  appeared  for  the  first 
time  under  the  authority  of  the  Central  Com- 
mittee contained  : — 1st,  A  note  in  which  the 
Committee  justified  its  own  conduct  ;  2ndly,  a 
resolution  of  the  Central  Committee,  announcing 
that  the  elections  of  the  Communal  Council  of 
the  city  of  Paris  would  take  place  on  Wednesday, 
the  22nd  March,  by  ballot,  and  by  arrondissement, 
at  the  rate  of  one  councillor  to  20,000  inhabitants, 
or  fraction  exceeding  10,000  ;  3rdly,  a  declaration 
by  V.  Grêlier,  describing  himself  as  "Delegate  of 
the  Government  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior," 
of  which  the  following  are  the  exact  terms  : — 

"  We  declare  that  henceforth  we  are  firmly  re- 
solved to  secure  respect  for  the  preliminaries  of 
peace,  in  order  to  preserve  the  safety  of  Republican 
France  and  at  the  same  time  the  public  tran- 
quillity." 

The    Committee     stated    besides,    that    while 


THE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE.  311 

awaiting  the  establishment  of  the  true  Kepublic, 
they  were  holding  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  in  the  name 
of  the  people. 

Thus  the  Committee  broke  the  convention  which 
they  had  agreed  on  at  four  o'clock  that  morning, 
and  which  had  been  loyally  carried  out  by  the 
deputies  and  the  mayors.  The  deputies,  who  had 
already  arrived  at  Versailles  for  the  sitting  of  20th 
March,  were  immediately  informed  of  this  breach  of 
faith.  They  persisted  none  the  less  in  their  resolu- 
tions. MM.  Clemenceau  and  Tirard  placed  the  bill 
for  the  municipal  elections  before  the  Assembly 
that  very  day;  and  M.  Lockroy,  the  proposal 
relative  to  the  elections  of  the  National  Guard. 

The  former  was  thus  conceived  : — 

"Article  1. — The  election  of  a  Municipal 
Council  for  the  city  of  Paris  shall  be  held  as  early 
as  possible. 

"  Article  2. — The  Council  shall  be  composed  of 
eighty  Members. 

"  Article  3. — The  Council  shall  appoint  its 
President,  who  shall  bear  the  title,  and  exercise 
the  functions  of  Mayor  of  Paris. 

"  Article  4. — There  is  incompatibility  between 
the  functions  of  municipal  councillor  and  that  of 
mayor,  or  deputy  of  one  of  the  arrondissements 
of  Paris." 

The  following  is  the  text  of  the  second  proposal:— 


312  THE    GOVEENMENT    OF    M.    THIEES. 

"  Article  1. — The  corporals,  sergeants,  and 
officers,  up  to  and  including  the  rank  of  captain, 
shall  be  elected  by  the  direct  votes  of  the  National 
Guard. 

"  Article  2. — The  majors  and  ensigns  shall  be 
elected  by  the  officers  of  the  battalion  and  by 
delegates  appointed  in  each  company  in  number 
equal  to  that  of  the  officers. 

"  Article  3.- — The  colonels  and  lieutenant-colo- 
nels shall  be  elected  by  the  captains  and  majors. 

"  Article  4. — The  general-in- chief  of  the 
National  Guard  of  the  Seine  shall  be  elected  by  the 
colonels,  the  lieutenant-colonels  and  the  majors. 

"  Article  5. — The  general  shall  appoint  his  staff. 
The  colonels  also  shall  appoint  their  staff.  The 
majors  shall  appoint  the  captains,  the  adjutant- 
majors  and  the  adjutants  shall  appoint  the  sub- 
officers." 

These  two  propositions  bore  the  same  signa- 
tures as  the  proclamation  posted  in  Paris  that 
morning,  and  in  addition  those  of  MM.  Jean 
Brunet,  Tolain,  Clemenceau,  Tirard,  Edgard 
Quinet,  Cournet,  and  Razoua.  M.  Millière  then 
presented  a  proposal  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  The  delays  accorded  by  the  act  passed  on 
the  10th  March  for  the  payment  of  commercial 
bills  shall  be  prorogued  for  three  months." 

The  Assembly,  agreeing  with  the  Government, 
voted  urgency  for   the    municipal  elections  bill, 


THE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE.  313 

and  for  that  on  the  payment  of  commercial  bills. 
Urgency  was  not  demanded  for  the  elections  of  the 
National  Guard. 

Thus,  the  majority  itself,  notwithstanding  its 
too  legitimate  causes  of  complaint,  granted  on 
that  day  all  it  could  grant  ;  that  is  to  say, 
urgency.  The  Government  also  officially  renewed 
the  authorization  to  the  mayors  of  Paris,  to 
exercise  administrative  powers  already  given  on  the 
night  of  the  18th.  M.  Tirard  and  his  colleagues, 
in  spite  of  the  breach  of  faith  by  which  they  had 
suffered  that  very  morning,  declared  themselves 
ready  to  continue  their  efforts  for  the  peaceful 
termination  of  the  sedition  of  Paris. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  prevent  the 
elections  fixed  for  the  22nd  by  the  Central  Com- 
mittee. M.  Tirard  undertook  to  do  this,  and, 
speaking  from  the  tribune,  he  said, — • 

"  If  we  intended  to  become  the  accomplices  of 
the  insurgents  we  might  lend  ourselves  to  the 
resolution  taken  by  the  Central  Committee  to 
proceed  with  the  elections  on  Wednesday  next. 
The  summons  is  placarded  on  all  the  walls  of 
Paris.  Well  !  we  have  declared,  we  the  munici- 
palities, that  we  should  oppose  this  election.  As 
to  me,  I  will  oppose  it.     {Hear  !  hear  I) 

M.  Clemenceau. — "  And  I  also  ! 

M.  Tirard. — "We  will  all  oppose  it,  we  will 
furnish  neither  lists  of  electors,  nor  voting-places. 


314  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

nor  ballot-boxes,  nothing  in  short  that  is  necessary 
for  an  election."     (Hear!  hear!) 

M.  Tirard  kept  his  promise.  A  notice  signed 
by  the  deputies  and  the  mayors  appeared  on  the 
21st.  It  announced  the  vote  of  urgency  for  the 
municipal  elections. 

"  The  National  Guard,"  said  the  signatories, 
"  will  be  guided  by  its  patriotism  ;  it  will  make  a 
point  of  honour  of  removing  all  cause  of  conflict 
whilst  awaiting  the  decision  of  the  National 
Assembly." 

The  same  day  the  following  declaration  ap- 
peared in  thirty-six  Parisian  newspapers,  of 
different  political  opinions  : — 

"  To  the  Electors. 

"  Considering  that  the  convocation  of  the 
electors  is  an  act  of  national  sovereignty  ; 

"  That  the  exercise  of  this  sovereignty  belongs 
only  to  the  powers  which  spring  from  universal 
suffrage  ; 

"  That  consequently  the  Committee  installed 
at  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  have  neither  right  nor 
qualification  to  convoke  the  electors  ; 

"  The  representatives  of  the  undersigned  journals 
regard  the  convocation  announced  for  the  22nd 
March  as  null  and  void,  and  advise  the  electors  to 
take  no  heed  of  it. 

"  The  following  have  adhered  to  this  : — 

"  Le    Journal   des   DéhatSj     le     Constitutionnel, 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  315 

VElecteuT  Libre,  le  Petit  Moniteur,  la  Vérité,  le 
Figaro,  le  Gaulois^  la  Petite  Presse,  le  Petit 
Journal,  Paris  Journal,  le  Petit  Natioyial,  la 
Presse,  la  France,  la  Liberté,  le  Pays,  le  National, 
l'Univers,  la  Cloche,  la  Patrie,  le  Français,  la 
Gazette  de  Fra^ice,  V  Union,  le  Bien  Public,  V  Opi- 
nion National,  V Avenir  Libéral,  Journal  des  Villes 
et  des  Campagnes,  le  Journal  de  Paris,  le  Moniteur 
Universel,  la  France  Nouvelle,  le  Monde,  le  Ternies, 
le  Soir,  VAmi  de  la  France,  le  Messager  de  Paris, 
le  Peuple  Français.^* 

This  spirited  proceeding  was  all  the  more  coura- 
geous that  the  Central  Committee  had  not  shown 
much  respect  for  the  liberty  of  the  press.  The 
Officiel  of  the  20th  March  contained  a  para- 
graph which  was  very  like  a  threat. 

"  The  Eepublican  authorities  of  the  capital," 
said  this  note,  "  desire  that  the  liberty  of  the  Press 
as  well  as  all  other  liberties  shall  be  respected  ;  but 
they  hope  that  all  journals  will  understand  that  the 
first  of  their  duties  is  the  respect  due  to  the  Repub- 
lic, to  truth,  to  justice,  and  to  right,  which  are 
placed  under  the  protection  of  all." 

"  The  Republican  authorities  of  the  capital," 
undertook  to  furnish  a  commentary  on  these  am- 
biguous words,  by  suppressing  the  publication  of 
the  Gaulois  and  the  Figaro  on  the  19th  March. 
They  did  not  inflict  the  same  punishment  on  the 
thirty-five  journals  which  had  joined  in  the  protest, 


316  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIEES. 

they  merely  threatened  them.  "  This  is  an 
outrage  committed  by  the  reactionary  press 
against  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  of  Paris," 
said  the  Journal  Officiel  of  the  22nd.  "  It 
is  a  direct  incitement  to  disobedience.  Severe 
repression  will  be  the  consequence  of  these  out- 
rages should  they  be  repeated."  The  Journal 
Officiel  renewed  its  threats  on  the  following  day. 
"  We  cannot  attack  the  liberty  of  the  press  ;  only, 
as  the  Government  of  Versailles  has  suspended 
the  ordinary  action  of  the  tribunals,  we  warn 
those  dishonest  writers,  who,  under  other  circum- 
stances would  thus  render  themselves  amenable  to 
the  common  law  against  libel  and  insult,  that  they 
will  be  immediately  brought  before  the  Central 
Committee  of  the  National  Guard." 

Notwithstanding  this  arrogant  tone,  the  Com- 
mittee hesitated  before  the  protest  of  the  press,  of 
the  mayors  elected  by  universal  suffrage,  and  of 
the  deputies  of  the  Seine.  They  had  already  post- 
poned to  the  23rd  the  elections  at  first  announced 
for  the  22nd;  and  two  demonstrations  by  the 
party  of  order  which  took  place  on  the  Boulevards 
and  in  the  Place  Vendôme  on  the  21st  and  22nd 
March,  (blood  was  shed  during  the  second  of  these), 
contributed  to  render  a  further  adjournment 
necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  objects 
of  the  Committee.     The  population  of  the  quarters 


THE   CENTKAL   COMMITTEE.  317 

inhabited  by  bankers,  and  tlie  higher  ranks  of  com- 
merce, began  to  wake  out  of  their  lethargy.     The 
energy  of  the  mayors  restored  courage  to  them. 
A  certain  number  of  majors,  not  federals,  assisted 
at  their  consultations.     Several  of  the  National 
Guards  who  were  on  the  side  of  order  acted  as 
sentries  during  the  day  on  the  Place  de  la  Bourse 
in  front  of  the  unoccupied  Mairies  of  the  1st  and 
2nd  arrondissements  ;  and  had  also  retained  posses- 
sion of  the  railway  station  of  St.  Lazare,  although 
their  presence  was  useless  so  far  as  facilitating 
communication  between  Paris  and  Versailles  was 
concerned,   because   the   Federals     searched    the 
trains  at  Asnieres,  where  they  had   established  a 
guard-house.     A  meeting  was  held  at  the  Grand 
Hôtel  on  Tuesday  the  21st.     A  few  persons  came 
out  from  it,  shouting,   "Vive  la  Paix!"     They 
were  followed  by  several  who  were  walking  on  the 
boulevard,  and  who  shouted  with  them.     It  was 
agreed  that  this  procession  should  be  repeated  on 
the  following   day,   and   that   the   demonstration 
should  be  made  in  greater  force.     On  Wednesday 
the  meeting,  as  arranged,  was  lield  in  front  of  the 
Grand  Hôtel.    The  promoters  of  the  demonstration 
carried  a  large  tricolour  flag  ;  they  were  followed 
by  about  600  persons,  belonging  to  the  bourgeoisie, 
who  shouted  "  Vive  la  Paix"  as  on  the  previous  day. 
The  crowd  followed,  astonished,  but  sympathizing 


318  THE    GOVEENMENT    OF   M.    THIEES. 

and  confident.  The  *  demonstration  '  proceeded  to 
the  Bourse,  where  the  National  Guards  presented 
arms.  They  then  retraced  their  steps,  and  turned 
into  the  Rue  de  la  Paix. 

The  Place  Vendôme  was  the  head-quarters  of  the 
insurrection.  The  Committee  sat  at  the  Hôtel  de 
Ville,  but  the  superior  officers  of  the  National 
Guard  remained  constantly  at  the  Place  Vendôme, 
where  they  were  in  force.  A  cordon  of  sentinels 
barred  the  entrances  to  the  Rue  de  la  Paix,  and  the 
Rue  de  Castigflione.  The  demonstration  first  en- 
countered  two  sentinels  posted  in  advance,  who 
attempted  to  oppose  their  passage,  but  they  pushed 
on,  and  the  sentinels  were  obliged  to  fall  back. 
What  happened  then  ?  It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that 
a  band  of  6  or  700  persons  had  dreamed  of  engaging 
in  a  struggle  with  a  much  more  numerous  body  of 
National  Guards,  armed  to  the  teeth,  and  taking 
aim  at  them.  But  it  is  probable  that  the  boldest 
of  the  members  of  the  demonstration  thought  the 
Federates  would  not  fire  on  unarmed  citizens,  or 
at  any  rate  were  willing  to  run  the  risk.  What  is 
certain  is  that  the  insurgents  did  by  roll  of  drum 
summon  the  demonstration  to  disperse,  but  that 
they  held  their  ground.  All  at  once  a  discharge 
was  heard.  The  insurgents  assert  that  a  pistol- 
ball  fired  from  a  window  had  wounded  a  National 
Guard.     If  this  be  true,  it  was  the  act  of  a  mad- 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  319 

man.  The  firing  of  a  pistol  from  a  window  would 
have  justified  a  strict  search  in  the  house  from 
whence  the  shot  came  ;  but  it  neither  explains  nor 
justifies  a  general  volley  on  an  unarmed  crowd. 
The  demonstration  had  not  fired  ;  they  had  no 
muskets  ;  the  order  to  fire  on  them  was  given  by  the 
men  who  had  justified  the  assassins  of  Lecomte, 
and  Clément  Thomas,  in  the  newspapers  the 
day  before.  The  inoffensive  crowd,  taken  un- 
awares by  a  volley  of  musketry,  fled  as  fast  as  they 
could  in  every  direction,  leaving  eight  wounded 
and  thirteen  killed  in  the  Rue  de  la  Paix.  On  the 
next  day,  Thursday,  23rd  March,  the  following 
proclamation  appeared  in  the  Officiel  : — 
"  Citizens," 

"  Your  righteous  anger  placed  us  on  the  18th 
March  at  the  post  which  we  were  to  occupy  only 
for  such  time  as  is  strictly  necessary  to  carry  out 
the  communal  elections. 

*'  Your  mayors,  your  deputies,  repudiating  the 
engagements  which  they  made  when  they  were 
candidates  for  ofiice,  have  placed  every  obstacle  in 
the  way  in  order  to  impede  those  elections  which 
we  are  anxious  to  conclude  with  as  little  delay  as 
possible. 

"  The  reaction,  excited  by  them,  declares  war 
on  us. 

"We  must  accept  the  struggle  and  crush  re- 


320  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIEES. 

sistance  in  order  that  you  may  proceed  witli 
the  elections  in  the  calmness  of  power  and 
strength. 

"  Consequently  the  elections  are  postponed  until 
Sunday  next,  the  26th  March. 

"  Until  then  the  most  energetic  measures  will 
be  taken  to  insure  respect  for  the  rights  you  have 
redeemed." 

It  was  after  this  proclamation  that  the  Mairies, 
which  until  then  remained  unmolested,  were  in- 
vaded, with  the  exception  of  the  Mairies  of  the 
1st  and  2nd  arrondissement.  Delegates  from 
the  Central  Committee  would  present  themselves, 
and  summon  the  mayor  to  withdraw.  The  mayor 
would  protest,  and  declare  that  he  would  only  yield 
to  force. 

They  would  then  send  for  the  officer  in  command 
of  the  guard-house,  and  ask  him  this  question, 
*'  Will  you  obey  the  municipality,  or  the  Central 
Committee?"  He  invariably  replied,  "The  Central 
Committee  ;"  and  the  municipality  withdrew. 

This  open  war  with  the  municipalities,  the 
threatening  proclamation,  the  occurrences  of  the 
22nd,  led  the  mayors  of  Paris  to  resolve  on  a 
measure  which  was  carried  into  execution  on  the 
23rd,  at  Versailles.  Having  nothing  more  to  hope 
from  the  Central  Committee,  they  determined  to 
make  a  last  and  solemn  appeal  to  the  Assembly. 


THE   CENTEAL   COMMITTEE.  321 

Events  had  travelled  at  sucli  speed  during  this 
fatal  week,  and  the  slightest  movements  of  "  the 
street  "  had  suddenly  been  invested  with  such  im- 
portance, that  before  leaving  Paris  for  Versailles, 
the  mayors  deemed  it  indispensable  to  give  the 
National  Guard  a  chief. 

Admiral  Saisset  had  been  elected  deputy  of  the 
Seine  in  the  preceding  month,  by  a  very  large 
majority.  He  had  been  returned  by  no  less 
than  154,347  votes.  He  was  popular  in  Paris 
not  only  in  consideration  of  his  services  and 
his  courage,  but  on  account  of  the  death  of 
his  son,  who  was  killed  during  the  siege.  The 
Admiral  was  walking  on  the  Boulevards  the  day 
after  the  rising,  when  he  was  recognized  and 
cheered  by  the  crowd.  Several  officers  of  the 
National  Guard  who  gathered  round  said  to  him, 
"  Place  yourself  at  our  head  !"  A  few  of  the 
number  set  out  immediately  for  Versailles,  to 
request  his  appointment  from  M.  Thiers.  They 
said,  "  Every  one  will  rally  round  such  a  chief 
as  he."  M.  Thiers  consented  at  once,  and  signed 
the  appointment,  which  was  notified  to  the 
Admiral  on  Sunday,  the  19th  March,  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  Admiral  Saisset  im- 
mediately put  himself  in  communication  with  the 
mayors  elected  by  universal  suffrage,  thinking 
that  their  support  would  strengthen  his  hands. 

VOL.  I.  T 


322  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIEES. 

The  mayors  of  Paris,  sharing  this  persuasion, 
and  believing  that  an  appointment  made  on  their 
suggestion  would  be  more  popular  than  one 
emanating  directly  from  the  Executive,  wishing 
also  to  surround  the  Admiral  with  men  who  were 
popular  in  Paris  for  their  opinions,  and  their 
courage,  issued  tbe  following  notice  on  the  morning 
of  the  23rd  :— 

"  The  Assembly  of  the  mayors  and  deputy- 
mayors  of  Paris,  in  virtue  of  tbe  powers  conferred 
on  them,  in  the  name  of  universal  suffrage,  by 
which  they  bave  been  elected,  and  for  whose 
principles  they  intend  to  secure  respect,  whilst 
awaiting  the  promulgation  of  the  act  which  shall 
confer  on  the  National  Guard  of  Paris  their  full 
right  of  election,  seeing  tbat  there  is  urgency, 

"  Appoint  personally, 

"  Admiral  Saisset,  repi'esentative  of  the  Seine, 
to  be  Commandant  of  the  National  Guard  of 
Paris  ; 

"  Colonel  Langlois,  representative  of  the  Seine, 
to  be  Chief  of  the  General  Staff,  Colonel  Schœlcher 
representative  of  the  Seine,  to  be  Commander-in- 
chief  of  the  artillery  of  the  National  Guard." 

At  the  same  time  that  they  took  this  measure, 
the  mayors  who  were  going  to  Versailles  deter- 
mined to  attend  in  a  body  at  the  sitting  of  the 
Assembly,    when    one  of  them,    speaking  in  the 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  323 

name  of  all,  should  explain  tlie  condition  of  Paris, 
and  ask  tlie  representatives  to  vote  urgency  for 
the  Electoral  Acts,  and  to  fix  the  election  for  as 
early  a  date  as  possible. 

The  advanced  Kepublican  party  is  sometimes  a 
little  theatrical.  The  mayors  ought  to  have  con- 
tented themselves  with  being  received  by  the 
bureau,  and  placing  their  propositions  in  the  hands 
of  M.  Grevy,  who  was  a  man  to  do  them  justice 
and  lend  them  support.  But,  full  of  the  impor- 
tance of  their  proceedings,  and  of  the  sense  of 
their  own  earnestness,  they  wanted  and  looked 
for  solemnity.  Haunted  by  the  recollections  of 
the  first  Revolution,  some  of  them  would  fain  have 
appeared  at  the  bar  and  had  all  the  honours  of 
the  sitting.  They  contented  themselves  indeed 
with  a  gallery  which  was  readily  placed  at  their 
disposal,  but  they  entered  it  in  a  body,  wearing 
their  official  sashes,  and  crying,  "  Vive  la  Répub- 
lique !  "  The  Left  responded  to  that  cry  which 
was  so  dear  to  them  ;  the  Right,  on  beholding 
these  worthy  people  who  were  striving  so  bravely 
for  order,  imagined  themselves  in  the  actual  pre- 
sence of  the  Insurrection.  They  also  fancied,  like 
the  mayors,  but  with  very  different  feelings,  that 
the  first  days  of  the  first  Revolution  had  returned. 
They  did  not  need  the  spectacle  before  them  to 
evoke  those  phantoms  which  were  ever  present  to 

T  2 


324  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

their  minds  ;  and  with  cries  of  "  Order  !  Order  !  " 
they  demanded  the  expulsion  of  the  intruders, 
who  came  before  them  wearing  their  sashes,  and 
shouting  "  Vive  la  Eepublique  "  in  the  gallery, 
where  all  demonstrations  were  forbidden.  A  scene 
of  tumult  ensued,  but  it  was  of  short  duration  ; 
for  M.  Grevy  at  once  adjourned  the  sitting,  in 
accordance  with  a  previous  resolution,  until  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  When  the  members 
resumed  their  places,  M.  Arnaud  (de  l'Ariège), 
deputy,  one  of  the  mayors  of  Paris,  read  the 
following  declaration  by  his  colleagues  : — 
"  Gentlemen, 

"  We  have  very  important  communications  to 
make  to  you.  Paris  is  on  the  eve,  not  of  an 
insurrection,  but  of  civil  war, — civil  war  under 
its  most  terrible  aspects.  The  population  are 
anxiously  awaiting — firstly  from  you,  and  after- 
wards from  us — measures  of  such  a  nature  as 
will  prevent  further  bloodshed. 

"  We  believe  that  we  are  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  state  of  feeling  in  all  classes,  and  we 
are  convinced  that  the  triumph  of  order  and  the 
safety  of  the  Republic  require  the  following  : — 

"  According  to  us,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  : — 

*'  Firstly,  that  the  National  Assembly  place 
itself  in  permanent  communication  with  the 
mayors  of  Paris  by  such  means  as  in  its  wisdom 
it  may  deem  best. 


THE    CENTBAL   COAIMITTEE.  325 

"  Secondly,  that  tlie  mayors  be  authorized  to 
take,  at  need,  sucli  measures  as  may  be  im- 
peratively required  by  the  public  danger,  subject 
to  rendering  an  account  to  you  of  their  conduct, 
and  to  answering  for  it. 

"  Thirdly,  that  the  election  of  the  General-in- 
Chief  of  the  National  Guard,  by  the  National 
Guard,  be  fixed  for  the  28th  of  this  month. 

*'  Fourthly,  that  the  election  of  the  Municipal 
Council  of  Paris  take  place  even  before  the  3rd  of 
April,  if  possible. 

"  And  lastly,  that  in  all  which  concerns  the 
act  relative  to  municipal  elections,  the  condition 
of  eligibility  be  reduced  to  six  months'  residence, 
and  that  the  mayors  and  their  assistants  proceed 
with  the  elections." 

The  storm  of  the  afternoon  was,  as  often 
happens,  followed  by  a  calm.  The  address  was 
received  with  deference.  Although  drawn  up  by 
the  mayors,  and  presented  in  their  name,  it  was 
signed  only  by  deputies  who  were  also  mayors  or 
deputy  mayors  of  the  arrondissements  of  Paris. 
Urgency  was  voted  without  opposition.  M. 
Grevy  spoke  a  few  words,  intended  to  lessen  the 
effect  of  the  hostile  demonstrations  of  the  Right. 
In  spite,  however,  of  these  extenuations  and 
apologies,  the  mayors  must  have  left  Versailles 
with  the  sense  that  their  peace-making  rôle  had 
exposed  them  to  injustice  from  the  two  parties. 


326  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

They  liad  declared  from  the  tribune  (through 
M.  Clemenceau)  that  they  retained  no  illusions 
with  regard  to  the  Central  Committee  ;  after  the 
sitting  of  the  23rd  they  cannot  have  entertained  any 
with  regard  to  the  Right  of  the  National  Assembly. 

They  had  been  premature  in  their  statements 
to  the  Parisians.  To  announce  by  placards  the 
nature  of  demands  which  are  about  to  be  made 
is  almost  to  promise  that  they  shall  be  granted. 
Admiral  Saisset,  who  shared  both  their  hopes  and 
their  efforts,  had  gone  so  far  as  to  assert  that 
their  dreams  of  pacification  were  accomplished 
facts.  The  following  was  posted  by  his  orders 
on  the  morning  of  the  24th  : — 
"  Dear  Fellow- citizens, 

"  I  hasten  to  inform  you  that  in  unison  with 
the  deputies  of  the  Seine  and  the  elected  mayors 
of  Paris,  we  have  obtained  from  the  Government 
of  the  National  Assembly; 

"1st.  The  complete  recognition  of  your  muni- 
cipal franchise. 

"  2nd.  The  election  of  all  the  officers  of  the 
National  Guard,  including  the  General-in-Chief. 

"  3rd.  Modifications  of  the  act  on  commercial 
bills. 

"  4th.  An  act  on  house-rent,  favourable  to  the 
occupiers,  up  to  and  including  tenancies  of  1200 
francs.     Until  you  shall  confirm  my  nomination 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  327 

or  replace  me,  I  will  remain  at  my  post  of  honour 
to  forward  tlie  execution  of  the  acts  of  conciliation 
which  we  have  succeeded  in  obtaining,  and  thus  to 
contribute  to  the  consolidation  of  the  Republic." 

The  "  Government  of  the  Assembly,"  of  which 
the  Admiral  speaks  in  this  proclamation  was  M. 
Thiers,  it  was  not  the  Assembly.  M.  Thiers 
could  not  associate  himself  openly  with  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  mayors  ;  because,  in  his  position 
he  could  not  do  so,  without  giving  a  sort  of 
sanction  to  the  insurrection,  and  also  because  he 
knew  the  sentiments  of  the  majority,  and  was 
the  more  bound  to  take  them  into  account,  that 
the  country  could  not  have  borne  a  Government 
crisis  in  addition  to  its  other  dangers.  But  in 
his  ardent  desire  to  avert  bloodshed,  he  favoured 
the  efforts  of  the  mayors  within  the  limits  of 
truth  and  possibility,  and  urged  forward  pacifi- 
catory measures.  The  mayors  had  found  him 
disposed  to  favour  their  views  up  to  a  certain 
point.  He  thought  that  the  acts  on  municipal 
elections,  on  the  National  Guard,  on  bills,  and  on 
house-rents,  ought  to  be  passed  with  as  little 
delay  as  possible  (he  had  even  said  so  within 
the  last  eight-and-forty  hours).  He  wished  them 
to  be  liberal,  which  did  not  mean  that  he  accepted 
the  basis  laid  down  by  Admiral  Saisset,  espe- 
cially with   regard   to  the   election  of  the  Com- 


328  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

mandant  of  the  National  Guard.  He  promised  "his 
support  only,  because  he  had  only  that  to  give. 
No  Government  promises  to  make  laws,  it  only 
promises  to  propose  them.  However  great  the 
influence  of  M.  Thiers  over  the  Assembly,  it 
was  no  longer  all-powerful.  Notwithstanding  his 
reserve,  he  constantly  betrayed  a  leaning  towards 
conciliation  which  irritated  and  disturbed  the 
E-ight.  It  was,  hoAvever,  perfectly  well  known 
that  he  would  deal  gently  only  with  those  who 
were  misled,  and  that  he  would  be  as  incapable 
of  pardoning  the  leaders  of  the  Revolution  as  of 
countenancing  their  principles.  He  had  thought 
it  right,  on  several  occasions,  to  afSrm  that  he 
would  maintain  the  Republic,  and  although  these 
declarations  were  in  conformity  wdth  what  was 
called  "  The  pact  of  Bordeaux,"  as  he  took  care 
to  show  at  the  sitting  of  the  27th  March,  they 
appeared  almost  treasonable,  if  not  to  the  whole  of 
the  Right,  at  least  to  the  most  violent,  and  to  the 
leaders  on  that  side  of  the  Chamber.  Admiral 
Saisset,  in  his  generous  ardour,  exaggerated 
the  magnitude  of  the  promises  and  the  extent  of 
the  power  of  M.  Thiers,  and  the  mayors,  without 
going  quite  so  far  as  the  Admiral  in  their  expecta- 
tions, believed  that  their  proposals,  for  which 
urgency  had  been  voted  without  debate,  and 
in  which   it  appeared  to  them  the  last  hope  of 


THE    CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  329 

safety  resided,  would  be  adopted  almost  in  their 
entirety.  This  hope  encouraged  them  to  further 
efforts  ;  the  danger  seemed  to  them  so  terrible  that 
they  never  wearied  in  their  exertions. 

The  day  after  M.  Arnaud  de  l'Ariège  had  read 
the  address  of  the  mayors  to  the  Assembly,  the 
Central  Committee,  aware  of  the  importance  of  the 
Admiral's  proclamation,  resolved  to  recommence 
negotiations,  taking  it  for  a  basis.  They  sent 
General  Brunei  and  another  of  their  colleagues  as 
negotiators.  The  envoys  presented  themselves 
this  time  in  no  friendly  fashion  ;  they  came  at  the 
head  of  a  strong  detachment  and  with  artillery, 
which  caused  a  panic  in  Paris.  The  mayors, 
overlooking  the  proclamation  of  the  23rd,  in  which 
the  Committee  declared  war  on  them,  agreed  to  the 
discussion,  which  took  place  in  the  afternoon. 
It  was  commenced  at  the  Mairie  of  the  1st  ar- 
rondissement, and  continued  at  the  Mairie  of 
the  2nd,  whither  Brunei  came  with  his  troops,  and 
where  twelve  of  the  mayors  and  their  assistants 
were  assembled,  together  with  several  deputies. 
During  the  discussion,  the  National  Guards  sta- 
tioned at  the  Bourse,  and  those  whom  Brunei  had 
brought  with  him,  remained  in  presence  of  each 
other,  so  that  a  sanguinary  conflict  would  surely 
arise  if  no  agreement  was  come  to. 

The  date  of  the  municipal  elections  was  one 


330  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

of  the  chief  points  in  dispute.  The  Committee 
insisted  on  the  26th  March,  the  mayors  would  have 
preferred  the  3rd  April,  because  they  expected  that 
M.  Ernest  Picard' s  Municipal  Bill  would  be  passed 
by  that  time.  They  considered  themselves  autho- 
rized to  propose  the  30th  March  as  a  com- 
promise; this  was  accepted  by  General  Brunei 
after  obstinate  resistance.  That  point  being 
settled,  the  good  understanding  seemed  complete. 
There  were  indeed  some  difficulties  as  to  the  elec- 
tion of  the  General-in-cliief.  M.  Scliœlcher  would 
have  had  him  elected  by  two  grades,  but  M.  Brunei 
declared  that  he  should  be  elected  by  direct 
universal  suffrage,  or  the  negotiation  must  be 
broken  off.  This  threat  silenced  all  objections. 
The  30th  March  was  fixed  for  the  municipal  elec- 
tion, the  2  ad  April  for  the  election  of  the  General- 
in-chief  by  direct  universal  suffrage.  Brunei 
appeared  on  the  threshold  of  the  Mairie  with  the 
mayors,  and  announced  that  peace  was  concluded. 
His  escort  received  the  announcement  with 
acclamations,  which  were  eagerly  echoed  by  the 
National  Guard  and  the  party  of  order.  The  news 
spread  throughout  Paris,  and  produced  general 
satisfaction. 

Whilst  all  was  joy  in  Paris,  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  24th,  the  Assembly  at  Versailles  was  preparing 
to  discuss  the  proposal  of  the  mayors,  which  had 


THE   CENTEAL   COMMITTEE.  331 

been  granted  urgency  on  the  previous  day.  The 
Commission,  having  been  appointed  at  two  o'clock, 
had  chosen  M.  de  Peyramont  President,,  and  imme- 
diately set  to  work.  Their  report  was  not  finished 
at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  so  that  M.  Jules 
Simon  proposed  a  night  sitting,  which  was  imme- 
diately agreed  to.  All  was  going  well  up  to  that 
time,  both  at  Paris  and  at  Versailles. 

But  before  the  night  closed,  all  was  lost. 
The  Assembly  met  at  ten  o'clock,  waited  some  time 
for  the  Commission,  which  was  with  M.  Thiers, 
then  M.  de  Peyramont  moved  an  adjournment, 
and  finally  M.  Thiers  came  in  person  to  make 
the  same  demand  without  giving  any  reason. 
"  If  the  discussion  takes  place,"  said  he,  "  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  Government  has  no  personal 
cause  to  fear  it,  but  they  dread  it  for  the  country's 
sake.  One  imprudent  word  may  lead  to  much 
bloodshed."  The  Assembly,  moreover,  could  not 
enter  upon  the  discussion,  as  the  report  had  not 
been  made.  M.  Arnaud  de  l'Ariége  therefore 
simply  withdrew  his  motion  until  the  sitting  of 
the  following  day. 

What  had  happened  was  this  :  the  turbulent 
spirits,  both  at  Paris  and  Versailles,  had  once 
more  got  the  better  of  men  of  good  sense. 

When  the  news  of  Admiral  Saisset's  proclama- 
tion reached  Versailles,  the  most  excitable  among 


332  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

the  members  of  the  Eight  had  raised  a  cry  of 
treason,  had  assembled  at  once  in  one  of  the 
bureaus,  and  were  contemplating  nothing  less 
than  handing  over  the  Government  to  the  Prince 
de  Joinville.  The  Central  Committee  at  Paris 
had  refused  to  ratify  the  treaty  which  had  been 
concluded  by  its  delegate. 

"  Admiral  Saisset  makes  acceptable  proposals," 
said  Assi,  who  presided,  as  he  always  did,  at  the 
meetings  of  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  ;  "  but  who  will 
answer  for  their  being  carried  out  after  the  elec- 
tion ?  Let  us  commence  by  electing  the  Commune. 
We  are  masters  of  the  situation,  our  adversaries 
although  apparently  determined  on  resistance, 
have  neither  organization  nor  community  of  ideas." 
Bergeret  continued  in  the  same  strain.  The 
mayors  were  assembled  at  the  Mairie  of  the  2nd 
arrondissement,  when  Eanvier  and  Arnold  came  to 
inform  them  that  the  agreement  was  broken  off, 
and  that  the  elections  would  take  place  on  the  26th. 

The  Central  Committee  made  its  will  known 
to  the  population  by  the  following  notice  : — 

"  Citizens,  carried  away  by  your  ardent  desire 
for  conciliation,  happy  to  realize  that  union  which 
is  the  object  of  all  our  efforts,  we  have  loyally 
stretched  forth  the  hand  of  brotherhood  to  our 
opponents.  But  the  continuance  of  certain 
manœuvres,  and  especially  the  transfer  of  mitral- 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  333 

leuses  to  the  Mairie  of  the  2nd  arrondissements  by 
night,  oblige  us  to  maintain  our  first  resolution. 

"  The  vote  will  take  place  on  Sunday,  26th 
March.  If  we  are  mistaken  as  to  the  intentions 
of  our  adversaries,  we  invite  them  to  prove  that 
we  wrong  them  much,  by  uniting  with  us  in  the 
common  vote  of  Sunday." 

The  mayors  were  in  the  right  to  break  off 
all  communications  with  a  Committee  who  first 
granted,  and  afterwards  refused,  whose  conces- 
sions were  a  sham,  and  who,  in  order  to  gain  their 
object  more  readily,  did  not  hesitate  to  deceive 
their  adversaries  by  the  pretence  of  negotiations. 
Their  first  idea  was  to  adopt  the  same  course  on 
the  26th  as  that  which  they  had  followed  on  the 
22nd  and  23rd  ;  namely,  to  refuse  to  countenance 
the  election,  and  to  protest  beforehand  against 
its  results.  Then  again,  they  reflected  that  the 
Central  Committee  was  in  the  minority.  If  all 
those  who  were  afraid  of  it  voted  unanimously, 
it  must  necessarily  be  beaten,  and  would  be  forced 
to  disappear.  The  mayors  would  thus  procure 
the  safety  of  Paris,  and  the  preservation  of 
peace,  which  they  had  vainly  sought  from  the 
Central  Committee,  by  means  of  the  population 
itself.  They  knew  besides,  that  their  own 
adherents  were  at  variance  on  the  question  of  the 
opportunism  of  the  vote,  and  that  several  of  the 


334  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

National  Guard  were  resolved  to  go  to  the  ballot, 
whatever  might  be  the  resolution  taken  by  the 
mayors.  The  major  of  the  10th  battalion  had 
said  in  the  presence  of  M.  Schœlcher,  "  our  men 
will  not  fight,  and  the  vote  shall  be  on  Sunday." 

Ranvier  and  Arnold  came  back  during  the  day 
on  the  25th,  and  offered  to  restore  to  the  mayors 
the  eighteen  Mairies  from  which  they  had  been 
expelled,  if  they  would  consent  to  summon  the 
electors  and  to  preside  at  the  voting.  If  they 
refused,  the  elections  should  take  place  all  the 
same,  without  their  assistance.  The  meeting, 
which  was  composed  at  that  moment  of  seven 
mayors,  twenty-seven  of  their  assistants,  and 
six  deputies,  after  a  long  discussion,  and  with 
much  hesitation,  submitted.  It  was  certainly 
pushing  the  oblivion  of  injuries  very  far,  but  their 
ardent  desire  to  escape  a  civil  war  rendered  any 
alternative  acceptable.  "  What  would  we  not 
submit  to,"  said  the  members  amongst  themselves, 
"  to  avert  bloodshed,  and  avoid  giving  an  oppor- 
tunity to  the  Prussians  !  " 

The  agreement  was  drawn  up  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

"  French  Republic.'* 
"  Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity." 

"  The  deputies  of  Paris,  the  elected  mayors  and 
assistants  reinstated  in  the  Mairies  of  their  arron- 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  335 

dissements,  and  the  members  of  the  Federal 
Central  Committee  of  the  National  Guard,  con- 
vinced that  the  only  means  whereby  civil  war  and 
bloodshed  in  Paris  may  be  avoided,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  Republic  be  firmly  established,  is,  to  hold 
the  elections  immediately,  hereby  summon  all  the 
citizens  in  the  electoral  constituencies  for  next 
Sunday.  The  bureaus  will  open  from  eight  in  the 
morning,  and  will  close  at  midnight. 

"  The  inhabitants  of  Paris  are  aware  that 
under  the  present  circumstances  their  patriotism 
requires  that  they  should  all  give  their  votes, 
so  that  the  elections  may  be  of  the  important 
character  which  alone  can  secure  peace  in  the 
city. 

"  Long  live  the  Republic. 
"  The  representatives  of  the  Seine  present  in 
Paris  : — 

"  Clemenceau,  Floquet,  Greppo,  Lockroy, 
Schœlcher,  Tolain. 
"  The  mayors  and  assistant-mayors  of  Paris  : — 
1st  Arrondissement,  Ad.  Adam,  J.  Meline. 
2nd,  Brelay,  Loiseau-Pinson.  3rd, 
Bonvalet  Murat.  4th,  Vautrain,  de 
Chatillon,  Callon,  Loiseau.  5th,  Collin 
Jourdin.  6th,  Leroy.  9th,  Desmarest. 
1 0th,  A.  Murat.  1 1  th,  Mottu,  Blanchon, 
Tolain.    12th,  Grivot,  Denizot,  Dumas, 


836  THE   QOVEENMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

Turillon.     13th,  Combes,  Leo  MeiUet. 

15th,    Jobbé-Duval.      16th,    Seveste. 

17th,    F.    Favre,    Malon,    Villeneuve, 

Cacheux.      18th,    Clemenceau.     19th, 

Deveaux,  Sartory. 
"  The  delegate  members  of  the  Central  Com- 
mittee : — 

"  G.  Ranvier,  G.  Arnold." 
This  proclamation  was  sent  to  the  National 
printing-office,  where  it  was  falsified  by  the  Central 
Committee.  Instead  of  the  words,  "  The  deputies 
of  Paris,  the  elected  mayors  and  assistants  re- 
instated in  the  Mairies  of  their  arrondissements, 
and  the  members  of  the  Central  Committee,  con- 
vinced, etc.,"  they  wrote  :  "  The  Central  Committee 
of  the  National  Guard,  around  whom  have  rallied 
the  deputies  of  Paris,  the  mayors  and  assistants, 
convinced,  etc.;  convoke,etc."  They  suppressed  the 
signature  of  M.  Callon,  and  added  the  signatures  of 
Messieurs  E.  Ferry,  André,  Nast,  assistants  of  the 
9th;  Poirier,  assistant  of  the  11th;  Sextius  Michel, 
assistant  of  the  15th;  Chanelet,  assistant  of  the 
16th;  Lafond,  Dereure,  and  Jaclard,  assistants  of 
the  18th  arrondissement. 

MM.  Tirard,  Arnaud  de  l'Ariége,  and  Brisson, 
who  were  informed  at  Versailles  of  the  text  of 
the  agreement,  declared  that  they  would  not 
assent  to  it. 


THE   CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  337 

M.  André  Murat  addressed  the  following  letter 
to  all  the  editors  of  newspapers  on  the  day  of  the 
vote  : — 

"  At  the  commencement  of  the  ballot  and  in 
presence  of  the  monstrous  fact  that  the  text  of 
the  convention,  signed  by  the  mayors,  their  assis- 
tants the  representatives  of  the  people  present  in 
Paris,  and  MM.  Ranvier  and  Arnold,  members  of 
the  Central  Committee,  has  been  falsified,  it 
becomes  essential  that  the  truth,  with  regard  to 
the  relations  between  the  mayors  and  the  Central 
Committee  should  be  made  known. 

"  On  Sunday,  the  19th,  a  deputation  of  mayors 
and  deputies  went  to  the  Hôtel  de  Ville,  to 
request  the  Central  Committee  to  leave  the 
general  administration  of  the  City  of  Paris,  as  well 
as  that  of  their  respective  arrondissements,  to 
the  elected  municipalities.  After  a  long  dis- 
cussion, the  Committee,  wishing  to  consider  the 
matter,  the  deputation  retired  to  the  Mairie  of  the 
2nd,  whither  four  delegates  of  the  Committee 
came  shortly  afterwards,  and  there,  by  common 
consent,  it  was  agreed  that  the  Hôtel  de  Ville 
should  be  restored  to  a  commission  of  the  mayors 
on  the  following  morning  at  nine  o'clock;  tJiis 
promise  has  not  been  kept. 

"  After  this  refusal,  and  as  it  was  impossible 
for  the    municipal  officers  to  recognize  the  civil 

VOL.  I.  Z 


338  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

autliority  of  the  Committee,  tliey  protested  and 
were  expelled  one  after  another  from  their  Mairies. 

"  On  Friday,  the  situation  being  strained  to 
its  utmost,  and  the  municipal  officers  making  un- 
heard-of efforts  to  induce  the  Government  and  the 
Assembly  to  accept  the  elections,  which  was  a 
reasonable  demand,  General  Brunei,  one  of  the 
Committee,  invested  the  Mairie  of  the  1st  arron- 
dissement, with  several  battalions  and  with 
cannon. 

"  There,  and  to  avoid  bloodshed,  a  compromise 
was  made.  The  municipal  officer  agreed  that  the 
elections  should  be  held  on  the  30th.  The 
General  then  proceeded  to  the  Mairie  of  the  2nd, 
and  the  mayors  assembled  there  approved  the 
fresh  agreement.  The  Central  Committee,  repu- 
diating the  signature  of  its  General,  refused  to 
ratify  it. 

"  Once  more  negotiations  were  attempted  with 
the  object  of  conciliation,  at  first  officiously  and 
afterwards  officially  ;  and  on  Saturday  at  noon  a 
notice  was  drawn  up  by  the  mayors,  and  accepted 
by  the  Central  Committee. 

"  It  might  have  been  supposed  that  all  was  now 
settled,  and,  for  my  own  part,  I  went  to  my 
Mairie  at  two  o'clock  to  resume  my  duties  and 
take  the  requisite  measures  for  holding  the  elec- 
tions on  Sunday  ;  but  I  was  refused  admittance, 


THE    CENTEAL    COMMITTEE.  339 

the  Central  Committee  declining  to  fulfil  tlie 
agreement.  In  the  evening  a  notice  was  posted 
by  the  said  Committee,  announcing  that  the  mayors 
had  joined  with  the  Committee,  which  is  false,  and, 
still  more  to  mislead  the  public,  this  notice  was 
signed  with  our  names. 

*'  Such  a  violation  of  fixed  agreements,  and  the 
affixing  of  our  signatures  to  a  proclamation  which 
did  not  emanate  from  us,  affords  a  measure  of  the 
morality  of  the  Committee;  and  teaches  us  how 
much  confidence  should  be  placed  in  the  good  faith 
and  honour  of  such  people. 

"  A.  MURAT, 

'^Assistant-mayor  of  the  9th  Arrondissement.^^ 
This  letter,  which  does  infinite  honour  to  M. 
Murat,  appeared  in  the  morning.     The  same  even- 
ing the  Central  Committee,  unable  to  reply  to  it 
otherwise,  put  M.  Murat  in  prison. 

The  mayors  had  gone  very  far  in  the  way  of  con- 
cession. They  had  accepted  the  Central  Committee 
if  not  as  a  regular  at  least  as  an  honest  authority  ; 
they  had  to  a  certain  extent  undertaken  to  put  up 
with  its  vicinity,  if  only  their  Mairies  were  re- 
stored, and  the  administrative  authority  in  all  civil 
matters  was  left  in  their  hands.  As  an  answer  to 
those  proceedings,  by  far  too  conciliatory,  the 
Committee  deliberately  committed  a  forgery,  whose 
consequences  involved  no  less  than  the  dishonour 

z  2 


340  THE   GOVERNMENT  OP   M.    THIERS. 

of  the  signatories  of  the  proclamation.  Never- 
tlieless  M.  Murat  was  the  only  one  to  protest  and 
to  withdraw  ;  his  colleagues  reserved  their  protest 
for  a  more  favourable  moment;  thus  adding 
another  to  the  many  sacrifices  they  had  already 
made  in  the  interest  of  the  public  peace. 

It  only  remained  now  to  vote. 

The  ballot  was  about  to  remove  both  the  Cen- 
tral Committee  and  the  mayors  ;  the  Committee 
who  had  made  the  insurrection  of  the  18th  March, 
the  mayors  who  had  courageously  struggled 
against  its  dictation,  taking  the  lead  at  the 
same  time  in  both  concihation  and  resistance. 
The  party  of  order  once  more  proved  faithless  to 
itself.  The  ballot,  if  all  had  done  their  duty, 
would  have  resulted  in  Peace  ;  as  it  was,  it  resulted 
in  the  Commune. 

M.  Louis  Blanc  had  proposed  that  the  Assembly 
should  resolve  that  the  mayors  of  Paris,  in  approv- 
ing the  elections  of  the  26th,  had  acted  like  good 
citizens.  The  Keport  was  made  on  the  27th,  the 
day  after  the  vote.  The  commission  concluded 
against  the  consideration  of  the  proposal.  M. 
Thiers  and  M.  Jules  de  Lasteyrie,  President  of 
the  commission  of  fifteen  members  appointed 
to  convey  confidential  communications  between 
the  Government  and  the  Assembly  during  the 
insurrection,  were  the  only  members  who  spoke, 
and  they  merely  begged  the  Assembly  to   vote 


THE  CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  341 

the  conclusions  of  the  commission  withoiit 
comment.  The  speech  of  M.  Thiers,  although 
short,  is  memorable.  He  treated  those  who 
accused  him  of  wishing  to  overthrow  the  Republic 
as  base  calumniators.  "  I  want,"  said  he,  "  I 
want  solely  to  establish  the  well-being  of  France. 
When  that  is  done  I  will  restore  her  to  you 
with  the  form  of  Government  she  has  to-day. 
The  different  parties  may  then  discuss  what 
her  final  form  shall  be.  All  will  depend  on 
how  each  party  conducts  itself  until  then.  The 
victory  will  be  with  the  wisest."  Returning  to 
the  question,  he  Confined  himself  to  declaring  that 
France  should  not  be  oppressed  by  Paris,  nor 
Paris  by  France,  that  all  the  communes  of  France, 
Paris  included,  should  enjoy  their  full  rights  and 
the  plenitude  of  their  liberty.  He  begged  the 
Assembly  to  attend  without  delay  to  the  municipal 
Act. 

M.  Jules  de  Lasteyrie  did  not  intend  to  fail  in  the 
discretion  that  M.  Thiers  expected  from  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Commission.  His  concluding  phrase, 
however,  allowed  the  policy  of  the  Government  to 
be  divined;  while  maintaining  the  principles  of 
order  and  legality  they  did  not  wish  to  discourage 
any  efforts  which  tended  to  prevent  bloodshed. 
*'  We  will  not,"  he  said,  "  hinder  any  moderate  or 
conciliatory  measure,  but  we  say  to  the  Govern- 
ment: if  ever  crime,  pillage  or  assassination  run  riot 


342  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

in  Paris  Versailles  liad  better  be  ready."  Scarcely 
had  the  Assembly  closed  the  discussion  by  refus- 
ing to  take  the  proposition  of  M.  Louis  Blanc  into 
consideration,  when  M.  Louis  de  Saint  Pierre  pre- 
sented a  protest,  signed  by  eighty-one  deputies, 
against  the  elections  of  the  day  before.  The 
Assembly  being  consulted,  urgency  was  refused. 
All  sensible  men,  even  on  the  Right,  appreciated 
the  danger  of  public  discussions  at  such  a  moment. 
The  proposal  of  M.  Louis  Blanc  had  been  inspired 
by  a  right  sentiment,  it  expressed  nothing  but  what 
was  perfectly  just.  But  officially  to  approve  of 
the  mayors  for  having  advised  the  vote  would  have 
been  to  approve  the  vote  itself,  and  to  give  a  sort  of 
sanction  to  the  Commune. 

Every  one  understood  and  every  one  felt  that, 
notwithstanding  the  vote  of  the  27th,  the  mayors 
of  Paris  were  regarded  with  esteem  by  the 
Government,  the  Assembly,  and  all  patriots. 

The  Central  Committee,  on  the  contrary,  was 
held  up,  by  all  its  actions,  to  the  contempt  of 
history. 

Appointed  originally  by  several  battalions  of  the 
National  Guard,  to  occupy  itself  exclusively  with 
the  interests  of  the  National  Guard,  it  should 
merely  have  expressed  a  desire  that  all  the  officers 
should  be  elected;  it  did,  however,  quite  another 
thing;  it  decided  that  the  officers  should  be  elected; 
and  this  was  usurping  legislative  authority.     It 


THE   CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  343 

declared  that  it  would  not  obey  the  commanders 
regularly  appointed  by  the  Government;  and  this 
was  placing  itself  in  a  state  of  rebellion.  The  men 
who  would  not  have  any  but  elected  chiefs,  and  who 
made,  according  to  their  own  statement,  a  revolution 
on  that  account,  appointed  generals  on  their  own 
authority;  these  were  Garibaldi,  Cluseret,Bergeret, 
Eudes,  Duval,  Henry,  Gasnier,  Brunei,  Raoul  du 
Bisson.  Flourens  having  appointed  himself  accord- 
ing to  his  usual  custom,  the  Committee  hastened 
to  provide  him  with  a  command. 

The  Committee  had,  since  February,  been  de- 
manding the  cannon  which  were  given  by  the 
National  Guard  during  the  siege.  This  was  its 
first  move.  It  claimed  them  as  the  property  of  the 
National  Guard;  an  unsound  reason,  for  there  can- 
not be  proprietorship  in  an  object  which  has  been 
given  away.  With  a  view  to  conciliation  it  was  pro- 
posed to  the  Committee  that  the  cannon  should  not 
indeed  be  restored  en  masse  to  the  National  Guard, 
but  that  the  pieces  which  had  been  purchased  by 
each,  should  be  given  back  to  that  battalion  indi- 
vidually. This  did  not  suitthe  purposes  of  the  Com- 
mittee. It  wanted  cannons  ;  got  them,  and  with 
them,  projectiles  which  the  National  Guard  had 
never  given,  but  which  it  awarded  to  itself.  Bar- 
ricades were  erected  around  the  parks  of  artillery, 
and  the  cannons  were  turned  upon  the  city.  In 
this  same  month  of  February  the  drums  beat  to 


344  THE   GOVERNMENT  OF   M.   THIERS. 

arms  by  order  of  the  Committee  :  this  was  msub- 
ordination  and  usurpation.  Mazas,  Sainte-Pelagie, 
and  La  Santé  were  attacked,  and  tlie  prisoners  re- 
leased, of  some  of  whom  the  Committee  afterwards 
made  generals. 

On  the  12th  of  March  a  notice  was  posted  on 
the  walls  of  Paris  which  was  a  provocation  to  the 
soldiers  to  rebel. 

On  the  18th  a  federal  battalion  was  made  to 
march  against  the  line,  and  a  troop  of  women 
brouo;ht  down  from  the  hei2:hts  of  Montmartre  and 
Belleville,  who  crowded  round  the  soldiers,  broke 
through  their  ranks,  and  incited  them  first  to  dis- 
obedience and  afterwards  to  desertion.  Members 
of  the  Committee  visited  the  barracks,  gave  the 
soldiers  wine,  and  either  took  or  bought  their 
muskets.  At  the  meeting  held  on  the  22nd 
March  at  the  Hôtel  de  Ville,  "  Citizen  Yiard, 
having  proposed  that  secret  emissaries  should  be 
sent  to  Yersailles  in  order  to  instruct  the  troops 
in  their  true  duty,"  Citizen  Assi,  the  President, 
replied  that  "emissaries  had  been  sent  several 
days  before."  The  Committee  proceeded  from 
enlistment  by  bribery  to  enlistment  by  force.  A 
decree  of  22nd  March  declares  that  "  The  soldiers 
at  present  in  Paris  shall  be  incorporated  in  the 
National  Guard,  and  shall  receive  its  allowances." 

It  was  asserted  that  the  Committee  had  not 
ordered  the  assassination  of  Clément  Thomas  and 


THE    CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  345 

Lecomte  ;  but  the  Committee  called  this  assassin- 
ation "  an  execution,"  and  undertook  to  defend  it. 
The  promised  inquiry  into  the  circumstances  was 
not  made.  Several  of  those  who  had  been  conspi- 
cuous on  the  occasion,  received  promotion  ;  Cap- 
tains Ras  and  Herpin  Lacroix  were  made  majors  ; 
Captain  Simon  Mayer  was  made  Commandant  of 
the  Place  Vendôme  ;  Kadanski,  a  carpenter,  who 
had  been  foremost  in  the  proceedings  at  the  guard- 
house of  the  Rue  de  Rosiers,  was  promoted  to 
the  staff.  Yerdagner,  a  sergeant  of  the  line,  who 
was  one  of  the  first  to  go  over  to  the  insurrection, 
and  who  boasted  that  he  had  fired  at  General 
Lecomte,  obtained  command  of  a  battalion. 

The  Committee  made  no  trouble  about  justifying 
or  even  provoking  assassinations.  The  Journal 
Officiel  of  the  28th  March  contains  the-  following 
note,  which  appears  in  the  non-official  portion. 

"  We  reproduce  the  following  article  by  Citizen 
Ed.  Vaillant,  which  appears  to  us  to  meet  one  of  the 
present  difficulties  in  a  satisfactory  manner  : — 

"  The  Editor  in  chief  of  the  Journal  Officiel, 

"  Ch.  Longuet." 

This  article,  which  "  meets  one  of  the  present 
difficulties  in  a  satisfactory  manner,"  concludes 
with  these  words  : — "  Society  has  but  one  duty 
towards  princes  ;  to  put  them  to  death.  One  for- 
mality only  is  binding  upon  it,  the  establishment  of 
identity.  The  Orleans  are  in  France,  the  Bouaparfces 


346  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP  M.    THIERS. 

want  to  return  :  let  good  citizens  look  to  it  I  "  On 
the  31st  March  the  Journal  Officiel  states  that  the 
reactionary  journals  made  a  great  noise  about  this 
article.  "  This  article  being  signed,"  it  adds,  "  only 
expresses  an  individual  opinion,  an  opinion  which 
is  besides  very  sustainable." 

The  Committee  had  fired  on  the  people  on  the 
22nd  March,  on  an  unarmed  crowd,  whose  cry  was 
Vive  la  paix  !  Apprised  by  the  first  demonstration, 
which  had  taken  place  the  day  before,  and  by  the 
summons,  which  was  public  ;  (proof  enough  that 
no  idea  ot'  having  recourse  to  force  was  entertained), 
it  had  charged  Lullier  and  Moreau  "  to  take 
measures  to  prevent  this  demonstration,  ivithout 
bloodshed  if  possible. ''^  At  four  o'clock  a  report  from 
General  du  Bisson  was  brought  to  the  Committee 
at  the  Hôtel  de  Ville  (13  killed,  8  wounded), 
when  '*  Citizen  Avoine  moved  a  vote  of  thanks 
to  the  General,  and  to  all  the  staff  who  have 
deserved  well  of  the  country.  The  motion  was 
carried  unanimously." 

The  suppression  of  Courts  Martial  was  also 
voted  with  unanimity.  "  Courts  Martial  can  be 
nothing  else  than  exceptional  tribunals,  where 
convictions  are  decided  in  advance  :  their  justice 
is  a  deception.  It  is  our  duty  to  emancipate  the 
army;  to  its  unity  with  the  National  Guard  we 
owe  the  victory  of  liberty."  The  vote  took  place 
at  the  meeting  of  the  19th.    The  following  sentence 


THE    CENTEAL   COMMITTEE.  347 

occurs  in  the  oiOficial  Report  of  tlie  meeting  of  the 
23rd.  "  The  Committee  ratifies  the  condemnations 
to  death  pronounced  the  day  before  on  the  motion 
of  Generals  Henri  and  Du  Bisson." 

The  Committee  had  placarded  on  the  walls  of 
the  Hôtel  de  Ville  :  "  Any  person  taken  in  the  act 
of  theft  will  be  shot."  The  intention  was  praise- 
worthy, the  penalty  outrageous,  and  the  procedure 
more  than  summary.     Here  is  another  notice  : — 

"The  Central  Committee  have  beeninformed  that 
men  wearing  the  uniform  of  the  National  Guard 
and  recognized  as  former  gendarmes  and  sergents- 
de- ville  have  fired  on  the  Prussian  lines.  The 
Committee  give  notice  that  should  a  similar  case 
present  itself,  they  themselves  will  take  measures 
to  secure  the  guilty  parties,  who  will  be  imme- 
diately shot."  Thus,  having  suppressed  the  state 
of  siege  and  the  Courts  Martial  of  the  standing 
army,  the  Committee  transformed  itself  into  a  High 
Court  of  Justice,  enacted  penalties,  and  carried 
them  into  effect.  Newspaper  editors  were 
cautioned  that  if  they  had  the  misfortune  to  trip, 
they  would  be  brought  "  before  the  Committee," 
and  threatened  with  "severe  penalties"  should  they 
again  oppose  the  will  of  the  people.  Was  it  also 
a  question  of  the  recalcitrant  journalists  being  shot? 

The  Committee  (and  this  no  one  will  be  sur- 
prised to  learn)  held  advanced  opinions  respecting 
the  distribution  of  the  public  charg-es.     On    the 


348  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP  M.    THIERS. 

24th  March  the  following  curious  statistics 
were  published  in  the  Journal  Officiel  :  lucubrations 
of  this  calibre  constitute  what  was  pompously- 
termed  in  the  language  of  the  clubs  and  of  public 
meetings,  "  Science." 

"  In  examining  the  working  of  our  economical 
institutions,  we  find  that  the  various  fortunes  are 
formed  and  developed  in  the  following  propor- 
tions : — one,  two,  four,  eight,  sixteen,  and,  in  an 
inverse  ratio,  that  the  households  possessing  these 
various  fortunes  are  in  the  proportions  of  sixteen, 
eight,  four,  two,  one  ;  it  could  not  be  otherwise  ; 
were  it  so,  poverty  or  opulence  would  be  general. 

"  The  union  of  these  two  proportions  constitutes 
that  law  which  presides  over  the  division  of  riches 
between  the  five  ranks  of  the  population,  whose 
positions  are  as  follows  : — poor,  tolerable,  easy, 
rich,  and  opulent. 

"  The  wealth  of  France  (mobilière  and  immohiliere) 
being  nearly  310  Milliards,  and  the  number  of 
households,  13,950,000,  a  simple  arithmetical 
calculation  gives  the  following  results  : — 

"  First  group,  7,200,000  families  ;  indigent 
persons  of  all  sorts,  workers,  at  the  lowest  wages, 
possessing  goods,  and  working  tools,  10  Milliard?. 

"  2nd  group,  3,600,000  ;  workmen  possessing 
land  or  a  trade  which  allows  them  to  work  on 
their  own  account,  20  Milliards. 


THE    CENTRAL    COMMITTEE.  349 

"  3rd  group,  1,800,000  ;  small  bourgeoisie, 
retail  traders,  40  Milliards. 

"  4tli  grade,  900,000  ;  Middle  class  bourgeoisie, 
wholesale  traders,  80  Milliards. 

"  6tli  group,  450,000  ;  great  proprietors,  large 
capitalists,  160  Milliards." 

Let,  then,  the  fortunes  of  this  latter  class,  com- 
posed for  the  most  part  of  the  organizers  or  the 
favourites  of  brigandage,  be  taxed  at  the  rate 
of  three  to  four  per  cent.,  and  a  sum  sufficient 
to  satisfy  German  rapacity  will  be  realized  imme- 
diately. 

Citizen  Grollard,  member  of  the  Committee, 
discovered  a  still  simpler,  and  according  to  him, 
more  practical  way  of  paying  the  indemnity  of 
five  milliards  ;  it  was  simply  "  to  confiscate  and 
sell  for  the  profit  of  the  Commune  the  goods  of 
all  the  Deputies,  Senators,  and  Ministers,  who  had 
voted  for  the  war  with  Prussia." 

Citizen  Grêlier,  "  delegate  to  the  Interior,"  who 
had  a  better  notion  of  what  a  sum  of  five  Milliards 
was,  contented  himself  with  announcing  in  the 
Officiel,  *'  The  authors  of  the  war  shaU  pay  the 
greater  portion  of  the  ransom." 

The  Committee  took  the  interests  of  house  occu- 
piers in  hand.  "  Until  further  orders,  and  with 
the  sole  object  of  maintaining  peace,  house  pro- 
prietors and   hotel-keepers    shall   not   have   the 


350  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

power  of  obliging  occupiers  of  any  bouses  or 
botels  to  leave."  Tbis  was  not  pleasant  for  pro- 
prietors and  botel-keepers  ;  it  simply  condemned 
tbem,  together  witb  tbe  autbors  of  tlie  war,  to  pay 
tbe  indemnity.  "  Citizen  Blancbet  approves  tbe 
motion  for  tbe  sale  of  tbe  goods  of  tbe  Deputies, 
Senators,  and  Ministers,"  but  be  is  of  opinion  that 
"  in  addition  to  tbis  measure  for  tbe  public  safety, 
tbere  sbould  be  a  tax  on  tbe  total  amount  of  rents, 
wbetber  paid  or  not. 

"  Tbe  motion  is  adopted  ;  tbe  amount  of  tbe  tax 
sball  be  paid  bereafter." 

Tbe  winners  of  tbe  day  on  tbe  18tb  Marcb  gave 
its  true  name  to  tbe  Revolution,  wbicb  tbey  believed 
tbey  bad  effectually  made.  Tbey  called  it  "  tbe 
accession  of  tbe  proletariat.  "  Tbe  proletariat  bas 
understood  tbat  it  was  its  imperative  duty  and 
its  absolute  rigbt  to  take  its  own  destinies  in  band, 
and  to  ensure  tbeir  triumpb  by  taking  possession 
of  autbority." 

Tbe  Committee  bad  declared  tbat  tbe  move- 
ment wbicb  bad  just  taken  place  was  purely 
municipal  and  purely  local.  Its  next  proceeding 
was  tbe  appointment  of  its  ministers.  It  sent 
delegates  to  revolutionize  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Bor- 
deaux, all  tbe  large  towns. 

Amoureux  writes  to  tbe  Committee  from 
Lyons,  on  tbe  24tb  Marcb,  in  tbe  name  of  tbe 
delegates  : — 


THE    CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  351 

''We  arrived  at  Lyons,  and  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Hôtel  de  Ville.  We  have  had  to 
appear  on  the  balcony,  amid  the  acclamations 
of  more  than  20,000  citizens. 

*'  Eighteen  battahons  out  of  24  are  happy  to 
federalize  themselves  with  the  215  battalions  of 
Paris. 

"  The  Government  of  Versailles  is  not  recog- 
nized. 

"  In  short,  the  cause  of  the  people  triumphs, 
and  Paris  alone  is  recognized  as  the  capital." 

The  Committee  said,  in  its  Journal  Officiel^  "  It  is 
on  Paris  that  the  duty  of  making  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people  respected,  and  of  exacting  that  no  at- 
temptupon  their  rights  shall  be  made,  is  incumbent." 
It  regarded  the  people  of  Paris  as  invested  with 
the  right  of  governing  France,  in  virtue  of  their 
advanced  opinions.  This,  at  least,  was  the  opinion 
of  General  Cluseret.  "  The  source  of  all  power 
and  the  only  power  in  Paris,"  said  he,  "  is  you, 
National  Guards  of  the  Seine,  you,  the  advanced 
people."  The  Committee  reckoned  on  the  press, 
on  the  "  enlightened  or  undeceived  "  departments  ; 
it  also  reckoned  on  the  large  towns  to  push 
forward  the  smaller  ones. 

"  The  large  towns  have  proved  that  they  are 
animated  by  the  same  republican  spirit  as  Paris  ; 
the  new  Republican  authorities  hope,  therefore, 
that  they  will  afford  her  their  earnest  and  ener- 


352  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M,   THIEflS. 

getic  co-operation."  True,  the  Committee  adds 
scornfully  :  "  The  country -places  will  be  anxious 
to  imitate  the  towns." 

It  had  declared,  from  the  20th  March,  that 
it  would  ensure  respect  for  the  preliminaries  of 
peace;  an  admirable  resolution  on  the  part  of 
a  Committee  which  had  so  many  times  expressed 
itself  in  favour  of  "  torrential  "  sorties  and  war 
à  outrance,  and  which  had  treated  the  surrender  of 
Paris  and  these  very  same  preliminaries  of  peace 
(which  were  to  be  so  scrupulously  respected), 
as  so  many  betrayals  and  money-bargains.  The 
Prussian  general  who  commanded  the  third  army 
corps  at  Compiègue,  having  announced  that 
if  events  should  assume  an  appearance  of  hos- 
tility against  the  German  troops,  the  city  of 
Paris  would  be  treated  as  an  enemy,  the  Com- 
mittee hastened  to  reply  that  "  the  Revolution 
accomplished  in  Paris  being  essentially  commu- 
nal," could  be  in  no  way  aggressive  to  the 
German  armies. 

General  Von  Schlotheim,  in  the  note  addressed 
by  him  to  the  leaders  of  the  insurrection,  pro- 
mised to  keep  a  pacific  attitude  if  not  provoked. 
The  Committee  in  publishing  this  document 
altered  the  words  to  a  friendly  attitude,  and 
ventured  to  say,  in  its  proclamation  of  the  24th 
March, — "  The    Prussians,    judging    us    at    our 


THE    CENTEAL    COMMITTEE.  353 

true  worth,  have  recognized  our  right."  This 
was  false,  but  even  had  it  been  true,  there  was 
dishonour  in  the  utterance  of  such  a  statement. 
With  equal  veracity  was  it  aflBrmed,  in  official 
proclamations,  that  the  King  was  at  Versailles, 
that  the  army  of  M.  Thiers  was  composed  of 
Pontifical  Zouaves,  and  that  it  was  commanded 
by  Charette. 

One  day  Assi  said  to  his  Committee,  "  The 
mayors  and  deputies  of  Paris  deserve  no  con- 
fidence whatever  ;  the  ministers  are  rascals  ;  the 
deputies  ferocious  imbeciles  ;  it  is  impossible  to 
place  a  shadow  of  confidence  in  such  men." 
The  mayors  were  treated  accordingly.  The  Com- 
mittee promises  them,  on  22nd  March,  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  to  give  them  up  the  Hôtel 
de  Ville  ;  at  midnight  it  refuses.  It  consents,  on 
the  24th,  to  fix  the  elections  for  the  30th;  on 
the  25th,  it  alters  the  date  to  the  26th.  It 
obtains  the  consent  of  the  mayors  to  the  elections 
of  the  26th  on  condition  of  restoring  their  Mairies  ; 
but  it  falsifies  the  proclamation,  the  terms  of 
which  had  been  settled  by  both,  it  does  not  keep 
to  its  word  in  the  restitution  of  the  Mairies,  so 
that  the  first  line  of  the  proclamation,  "  The 
mayors,  reinstated  in  their  Mairies,"  constitutes 
a  falsehood.  It  declares  on  the  19th,  20th,  21st, 
24th,  and  26th  March,  that  it  is  about  to  retire, 

VOL.  I.  A  a 


354  THE   GOVERNMENT  OF   M.   THIEES. 

that  it  is  retiring,  that  it  is  giving  place  to  the 
Commune  ;  but  it  draws  up  lists  of  ofiBcial  candi- 
dates, on  which  it  takes  good  care  to  inscribe  the 
names  of  all  its  members.  When  the  Commune 
is  nominated  and  installed,  instead  of  disappear- 
ing, the  Committee  transforms  itself  into  a  Sub- 
committee, retaining  Assi  as  its  President,  and  it 
only  awaits  an  opportunity  of  seizing  power  once 
more.  Such  is  the  Central  Committee  of  the 
National  Guard. 

Those  who  gained  admission  to  the  hall  in  the 
Hôtel  de  Ville,  in  which  the  Central  Committee 
sat,  carried  away  with  them  a  feeling  of  disgust 
almost  amounting  to  horror.  It  was  very  little 
like  a  Government  Council  ;  nay,  not  even  like  a 
guard-room.  Victuals  everywhere,  drink,  pipes, 
slovenly  fellows  with  muskets  slung  at  their 
backs,  disgusting  dirt,  deafening  cries,  wild  and 
ferocious  talk.  One  member  of  the  Committee, 
according  to  a  witness  hardly  to  be  suspected, 
has  a  pleasant  trick  of  pointing  his  loaded  musket 
at  you  the  whole  time  he  is  speaking  to  you  ;  he 
replaces  it  under  his  arm  while  you  answer  him. 
It  is  grotesque,  no  doubt  ;  is  it  only  that  ?  Is  it 
not  the  indication  of  a  peculiar  mental  condition  ? 
From  this  congenial  centre  came  apologies  for 
assassination,  and  provocations  to  civil  and  social 
war.     Monsieur  Tirard  said  on  the  21st  March, 


THE    CENTRAL   COMMITTEE.  355 

from  the  tribune  in  the  Assembly  :  "  On  going  to 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  you  know  well  enough  when 
you  enter  it,  but  you  know  not  whether  you  will 
come  out  again." 

The  elections  did  not  fulfil  the  hopes  either 
of  the  Committee  or  of  the  mayors. 

The  mayors  had  flattered  themselves  that  the 
party  of  order  would  vote,  and  that  it  would  vote 
with  uniformity;  but  the  party  of  order  almost 
entirely  abstained  from  voting.  The  adversaries 
of  the  Committee  who  voted,  could  only  succeed  in 
electing  sixteen  of  their  candidates.  The  game 
was  lost,  the  sixteen  elected  candidates  at  once 
tendered  their  resignation.  The  Commune,  after 
these  resignations,  and  after  taking  some  double 
elections  into  account,  found  itself  reduced  to 
sixty-six  members  ;  after  the  6th  April,  by  rea- 
son of  fresh  resignations,  the  number  fell  to  sixty- 
two. 

The  Central  Committee  had  succeeded  with 
only  thirteen  of  its  members.  It  might,  however, 
count  as  belonging  to  it  the  seventeen  members 
elected  from  the  International.  This  made,  in  all, 
thirty-eight  members,  for  two  of  those  elected, 
Varlin  and  Assi,  belonged  at  the  same  time  to  the 
Central  Committee  and  to  the  International 
Association.  The  other  members  of  the  Com- 
mune were  journalists  of  the  school  of  Delescluze 

A  a  2 


356  THE    GOVERNSfENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

or  Blanqui,  or  else  club-orators.  This  result  was 
vexatious  to  the  Committee,  who  foresaw  an- 
tagonism between  its  policy  and  a  majority  with 
Delescluze  at  its  head. 

But  if  instead  of  counting  the  elected,  we 
consider  the  number  of  voters,  the  results  prove 
that  the  party  for  order  was  once  more  beaten 
through  its  own  fault. 

The  number  of  registered  voters  was  481,970. 
Of  this  number,  224,197  electors,  that  is 
forty-six  per  cent,  of  the  total,  had  taken  part 
in  the  election;  <S9,731  voters  had  given  their 
votes  to  the  sixteen  elected  in  opposition  to  the 
Revolution  of  the  18th  March,  who  resigned  im- 
mediately. These  89,731,  added  to  257,773,  who 
abstained  from  voting,  formed  a  total  of  347,504 
out  of  482,970  registered  electors.  We  must 
also  deduct  from  the  voters  who  remained  faithful 
to  the  Central  Committee,  those  who  gave  their 
votes  to  former  members  of  the  corporations  who 
had  not  accepted  the  candidateship.  M.  Hérisson, 
2279;  M.  Jozon,  2202;  Dr.  Loiseau,  4849;  M. 
Carnot,  1922  ;  M.  Denormandie,  1806,  &c.,  &c. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE   COMMUNE. 


After  the  ballot  of  the  26th  March,  an  impor- 
tant Paris  newspaper  expressed  regret  that  it 
had  not  urged  its  friends  to  take  part  in  the 
election.  Everybody  was  saying  that  if  the  party 
of  order  had  not  deserted  on  the  18th  "  in  the 
street,"  or  on  the  26th  at  the  ballot,  the  Commune 
would  never  have  existed. 

No  one  could  think  of  regarding  the  sum- 
moning of  the  electors  as  a  regular  proceed- 
ing. 

In  the  first  place,  it  was  done  by  the  Central 
Committee,  which  asserted  that  it  had  been  elected 
by  the  majority  of  the  National  Guard.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  this  was  not  proved,  as  a  matter 
of  right  the  National  Guard  could  not  have  nomi- 
nated it  except  in  defiance  of  the  laws.  This 
Committee,  whose  very  origin  was  seditious,  had 
accumulated  seditious  acts  for  several  weeks  past. 


358  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

If  the  members  who  composed  it  had  been  pro- 
secuted, even  before  the  18th  March,  they 
would  justly  and  infallibly  have  been  condemned. 
On  the  18th  they  had  offered  armed  resistance 
to  the  lawful  authority  of  the  country.  They 
had  enticed  away  soldiers  ;  they  had  laid  hands 
on  war-material  belonging  to  the  State  ;  they 
had  shut  their  eyes  to  the  assassination  of  the 
two  generals,  an  assassination  committed  by  their 
partisans,  and  in  their  Journal  Officiel  they 
had  published  an  apology  for  the  crime.  They 
had  usurped  authority  and  appointed  functionaries 
to  fill  public  offices.  They  had  laid  hands  on 
the  finances  of  the  city  and  on  those  of  the 
State.  They  had  substituted  the  red  flag  for  the 
national  standard.  These  criminals  committed 
one  more  crime  by  convoking  the  electors.  To 
answer  to  their  summons,  to  place  the  voting- 
papers  in  the  ballot-box  presented  by  their 
hands,  was  not  this  to  give  their  approval  to 
the  revolt  ?  How  was  a  man  to  vote,  and  then 
allege,  after  the  vote,  the  nullity  of  the  operation  ? 
How  was  he  to  contest  the  authority  of  the 
Central  Committee  after  having  voluntarily  sub- 
mitted to  it  ?  These  reasons  were  insuperable, 
in  the  sight  of  the  Assembly  and  the  Government 
which  had  sprung  from  universal  suffrage,  and  who 
who  could  not  bend  the  nation's  will  to  a  handful 


THE    COMMUNE.  359 

of  factious  men.  What  then  would  have  become 
of  universal  suffrage  after  such  an  abasement,  and 
of  France  after  the  fall  of  universal  suffrage? 
It  will  be  remarked  that  Admiral  Saisset,  when 
resigning  his  function  as  general-in-chief  of  the 
National  Guard,  alleged  as  his  principal  motive 
the  conduct  of  the  mayors,  who,  by  signing  the 
last  summons  to  the  electors  in  common  with  the 
insurgents,  appeared  to  acquiesce  in  what  had 
been  done  on  the  18th  March,  and  since. 

On  the  other  hand,  that  which  was  impossible 
for  the  Government  and  the  Assembly,  might  be 
held  not  to  be  so  in  the  same  degree  for  the 
mayors  of  Paris  and  for  ordinary  citizens.  The 
mayors  looked  upon  the  participation  of  honest 
citizens  in  the  election  which  was  about  to  take 
place,  not  as  an  admission  of  the  legality  of  the 
vote,  but  as  the  sole  means  of  throwing  light 
upon  the  situation  by  the  enumeration  of  the 
votes.  They  were  well  aware  that  the  ballot 
would  give  no  rights  to  anybody.  If,  indeed, 
there  were  but  this  one  way  of  preventing  civil 
war,  at  a  time  when  civil  war  might  be  the  end  of 
France,  was  it  permissible,  was  it  possible  not  to 
make  use  of  it  ?  Under  what  circumstances,  if 
not  under  these,  was  "  force  majeure  "  to  be 
pleaded  ?  It  is  indisputable  that  if  all  the  friends 
of  order  had  voted,  the  Insurrection  of  the  18th 


360  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

March  would  have  ended,  after  a  reign  of  eight 
days,  in  an  overwhelming  and  irremediable  defeat. 
The   Central  Committee  which  on  the  18th  bad 
had  defection  for  it,  would  have  had  on  the  26th 
election  against  it.     More  than  two-thirds  of  Paris 
voting  against  disorder  would  have  been  at  once 
the   proclamation   of  right,   and   the   irresistible 
evidence  of  strength.     The  Commune  would  have 
perished  unborn.    The  Assembly,  victorious  with- 
out  a   conflict,  would   have  been  entitled  to  be 
merciful.     It  might  have  punished  the  leaders  of 
the  rebelHon   and  the  assassins,  ignored  all  the 
rest,  given  a  liberal   constitution  to  the   city  of 
Paris,  and   without   even  taking  the   trouble   to 
annul  the  elections   of  the  26th,  held  the  regular 
elections  without   delay.     Unfortunately,  only   a 
half  resolution  had  been  taken,  and  that  was  the 
very    worst    thing   that    could    have   happened. 
Either  all  should  have  abstained  out  of  respect 
for   legality,    or    all    should   have    voted    out    of 
respect  for  human  life.     Entire  abstention,  which 
would  have  been  preferable  because  it  alone  was 
conformable  with    legality,   with    eternal  justice, 
and  also  because  it  would  have  clearly  proved  the 
numerical  weakness  of  the  insurgents,  could  not 
be  obtained  ;   no  one  had   sufficient  authority  to 
insist  upon  it  ;    the  mayors    had  felt   their  way, 
and   ascertained   that   many    of   the   enemies   of 


THE   COMMUNE.  361 

tlie  CommuTie  were  resolved  to  vote.  They  met 
every  argument  with  the  three  words  :  "  We  shall 
vote  !  "  Certainly  three  of  the  mayors  them- 
selves, perhaps  five,  were  of  one  opinion.  As  the 
abstention  could  not  be  otherwise  than  partial, 
they  resolved  upon  action,  but  they  did  not  succeed 
any  better  in  establishing  discipline  in  that  sense. 
They  were  unable  to  state  the  motives  of  their 
conduct;  the  newspapers  were  divided,  and 
the  population  imitated  the  newspapers.  The 
absentees  had  not  returned  ;  among  those  present, 
a  large  number  had  persisted  in  abstaining; 
finally,  the  voters  had  not  agreed  to  a  single  list 
of  candidates.  This  disarray  and  inertness  in  the 
party  of  order  contrasted  singularly  with  the 
spirit  of  decision  and  discipline  which  was  con- 
spicuous among  their  adversaries  at  that  time. 
After  the  victory  all  was  changed  :  their  Assembly 
and  their  party  fell  into  unutterable  disorder  from 
the  first. 

Not  one  half  of  the  voters  on  the  registers 
voted.  According  to  the  decree  of  convocation, 
ninety  were  to  be  elected  ;  there  were  only 
eighty-six.  Of  this  number,  sixteen  members, 
belonging  to  the  party  of  order,  resigned  their 
seats  so  soon  as  the  result  was  known.  MM.  Ranc, 
Ulysse  Parent,  Robinet,  Lefèvre,  and  Goupil,  with- 
drew on  the  6th  April.     There  were  three  double 


362  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

elections.  The  Assembly  thus  found  itself  reduced 
to  sixty-two  members.  These  sixty-two,  some 
of  whom  had  not  even  obtained  a  number  of 
votes  equal  to  the  eighth  part  of  the  registered 
electors,  met  together  ;  declared  themselves  regu- 
larly constituted;  and  announced  that  further 
elections  to  the  vacant  seats  would  take  place  at 
an  early  date. 

Their  first  act  was  to  proclaim  the  Commune, 
and  to  concentrate  the  whole  public  authority  in 
the  Commune.  It  was  no  longer  pretended  that 
nothing  beyond  municipal  franchises  for  Paris 
was  claimed.  The  elections  over,  this  comedy 
became  useless.  The  Journal  Officiel  declared 
that  "  it  would  be  a  strange  and  even  a  puerile 
fallacy  to  think  that  the  sole  aim  of  the  Revolu- 
tion of  the  18th  March  was  to  secure  a  communal 
representation  by  election,  but  subject  to  a  central 
despotic  power  for  Paris."  A  puerile  fallacy 
indeed;  it  was  in  fact  a  government  that  had  just 
been  formed  ;  a  government  with  very  vague 
aspirations,  very  positive  hatreds,  and  absolutely 
ignorant  of  the  first  principles  of  administration. 

The  Central  Committee,  to  which  the  victory  of 
the  Commune  had  administered  a  personal  check, 
by  the  defeat  of  the  greater  number  of  its  members, 
allowed  itself  at  least  the  pleasure  of  installing  its 
successors  with  great  pomp  and  a  grand  display 


THE    COMMUNE.  363 

of  red  flags  and  red  sashes  fringed  with  gold. 
Assi  officiated  pontifically  on  this  occasion,  as 
chief  of  the  government  which  was  disappearing 
or  was  pretending  to  disappear.  There  were 
repeated  salvoes  of  artillery,  and  "  Vive  la  Com- 
mune !  "  was  shouted  in  the  square  in  front  of  the 
Hôtel  de  Ville  during  one  whole  day.  The 
Commune  declared  that  the  Central  Committee 
had  deserved  well  of  the  country.  After  having 
congratulated  and  complimented  each  other,  and 
enjoyed  themselves,  it  was  necessary  to  come 
to  business  ;  for  they  were  but  half  masters 
of  Paris,  and  at  the  gates  of  Paris  they  had 
the  Prussians  on  one  side  and  Versailles  on  the 
other. 

The  members  of  the  Commune  had  to  stand  a 
siege,  to  raise  an  army,  and  to  find  generals.  They 
had  no  money.  They  had  to  create  a  government, 
and  to  get  it  obeyed  by  that  half  of  Paris  which  had 
just  voted  against  them.  Moreover,  from  the  very 
first  day  there  were  profound  divisions  among 
them.  They  agreed  only  upon  that  one  word, 
the  "  Commune,"  and  each  understood  it  after  his 
own  fashion.  They  well  knew  what  they  were 
fighting  against  ;  but  they  had  only  conâised, 
wild,  and  diverging  notions  of  what  it  was  their 
business  to  found.  Among  their  number  there 
was  a  Prussian,  a  bankrupt  ex-capuchin,  an  ex- 


364  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIEES. 

agent  of  the  Imperial  police,  a  mountebank,  an 
assassin  who  had  been  convicted  and  condemned, 
a  madman,  a  visionary.  In  such  hands  had  our 
misfortunes  placed  us.  Under  such  conditions 
did  the  insurgents,  with  the  boastfulness  which 
is  inherent  to  their  party,  and  a  little  to  our 
country,  make  sure  of  victory. 

They  proclaimed  aloud  that  the  people  ought 
to  march  on  Versailles.  They  had  an  axiom 
which  had  been  preached  to  them  in  every  key 
during  the  first  siege,  and  which  they  would 
not  now  relinquish  ;  it  was  that  when  the  entire 
people  move  together  they  are  absolutely  and 
necessarily  invincible.  It  was  in  virtue  of  this 
axiom  that  the  Government  of  Defence  was 
regarded  as  criminal  ;  it  had  victory  in  its  hands, 
if  only  it  had  chosen  to  open  them  ;  it  would  have 
been  sufficient  had  it  ordered  a  sortie  en  masse. 
So  it  was  now,  the  Commune  had  only  to  hurl  the 
people  against  "  the  rustics."  The  army  would 
not  even  offer  any  resistance.  The  soldiers  are 
our  brothers  !  They  had  proved  this  on  the  18th 
March.  Towards  the  end  of  the  Central  Com- 
mittee, there  had  been,  it  was  admitted,  some 
diSiculties  in  the  interior  of  Paris  ;  the  battalions 
that  had  remained  faithful  to  the  Assembly  had 
formed,  under  the  orders  of  Admiral  Saisset,  a 
small  army  which  occupied  the  Bourse  and  the 


THE    COMMUNE.  365 

neighbouring  streets,  the  Saint-Lazare  Kailway 
Terminus,  and  the  quarters  of  the  Elysée  and 
Passy  ;  but  the  Admiral,  it  was  said,  disheartened 
by  the  ill  success  of  his  proclamation  and  the  small 
number  of  his  adherents,  had  relinquished  the 
struggle  on  the  very  day  of  the  election,  and 
returned  to  Versailles  after  having  disbanded  his 
troops  ;  there  was  therefore  nothing  more  to  fear 
in  the  city  ;  the  Eevolution  was  sole  ruler  ;  the 
road  to  Versailles  was  open.  "Was  the  Commune 
about  to  imitate  Trochu,  and  condemn  the 
National  Guard  to  inaction  and  defeat?  This 
question  was  asked  on  the  boulevards,  in  the 
barracks,  in  the  clubs,  in  the  cafés  and  beer-shops. 
The  newspapers  of  the  Insurrection  repeated  it. 
Armed  detachments  defiled  before  the  Hôtel  de 
Ville,  shouting,  "À  Versailles!"  just  as  they  had 
formerly  shouted,  ''  A  Berhn  !  "  Groups  of 
women  accompanied  them,  determined  also  to 
fight  and  to  conquer.  The  Commune  hesitated, 
estimating  more  correctly  the  gravity  and  difficulty 
of  the  enterprise.  In  what  the  rash  believed  to 
be  an  army,  they  could  see  only  a  mob.  There 
was  no  lack  of  generals,  there  was  even  a  crowd 
of  them  ;  Delescluze  and  a  few  others  questioned 
whether  these  generals  were  capable  of  com- 
manding an  army,  a  battalion,  or  even  a 
squad. 


366  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

The  Central  Committee  had  intrusted  all  the 
military  authority  to  three  generals  of  its  own 
creation  :  Brunei,  Eudes,  and  Duval.  The  first 
had  been  a  sub-lieutenant  in  the  Chasseurs 
d'Afrique  for  a  short  time  in  his  youth  ;  Eudes 
was  a  young  man,  thirty-two  years  of  age,  formerly 
a  medical  student,  afterwards  an  assistant  in  a 
shop,  and  manager  of  the  Libre  Pensée  ;  Duval, 
after  having  tempted  fortune  as  an  iron-founder, 
had  set  up  at  last  as  a  dealer  in  slippers.  This 
trinity  inspired  unlimited  confidence  among  that 
section  of  the  National  Guard  which  believed  in 
improvised  generals  and  the  irresistibility  of 
"  torrential  "  sorties.  The  Commune,  or  rather  the 
Executive  Commission  placed  at  its  head,  was  less 
credulous,  and  consequently  in  less  of  a  hurry. 
It  was  thinking  of  organizing  the  government,  the 
finances,  and  the  army,  and  making  a  selection 
from  among  the  generals,  when  hostilities  broke 
out  without  its  order,  on  the  2nd  of  April,  owing 
to  an  unforeseen  accident. 

A  federal  column  was  proceeding  along  the 
great  avenue  which  leads  straight  to  Courbevoie, 
and  marching  on  Versailles  at  hap-hazard. 
General  Vinoy  sent  a  division,  and  two  brigades 
to  intercept  them.  The  place  of  rendezvous 
assigned  by  him  was  the  cross-roads  at  Bergères, 
where  they  arrived  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morn- 


THE    COMMUNE.  367 

ing.  Dr.  Pasquier,  surgeon-in-chief  to  tlie  army 
of  Versailles,  a  very  distinguished  man,  and  most 
popular  with  the  soldiers,  had  set  out  in  the 
morning  alone,  on  horseback,  and  unarmed,  to 
organize  the  medical  service.  He  was  riding 
along  the  high  road  to  St.  Germain,  between  the 
cross-roads  at  Bergères  and  the  cross-roads  at 
Courbevoie,  when  he  came  within  reach  of  a 
federal  outpost,  which  fired  on  him  and  killed 
him.  It  was  generally  reported  that  evening  at 
Versailles,  and  was  contradicted  by  nobody,  that 
he  had  voluntarily  gone  to  meet  the  insurgents, 
to  entreat  them  not  to  fire  upon  the  army  and  to 
return  to  Paris.  However  this  may  have  been, 
the  murder  of  a  doctor  before  fighting  had  begun, 
aroused  the  anger  of  the  regiment,  which  at  that 
very  moment  was  arriving  on  the  scene  of  the 
occurrence,  and  perhaps  contributed  to  confirm 
its  loyalty.  General  Vinoy  at  once  gave  orders 
to  attack,  and  the  firing  began  vigorously  on  both 
sides.  The  insurgents  showed  great  courage,  but 
they  could  not  stand  against  superior  forces. 
General  de  Gallifet's  cannon  completely  settled 
the  fate  of  the  day.  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye 
the  avenue  was  covered  with  runaways,  who  were 
swept  down  by  a  battery  set  up  at  the  cross-roads 
at  Courbevoie.  The  barricade  commanding  the 
bridge   at   Neuilly  was    stormed   by   sailors  and 


368  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

marines.  At  three  o'clock  the  fight  was  over,  and 
the  troops  were  ordered  to  return  to  their  en- 
campment. 

The  effect  of  this  day  was  very  great  at  "Ver- 
sailles. It  was  known  that  the  army  had  been 
remodelled  with  marvellous  rapidity;  its  morale 
had  been  restored  by  the  earnestness  of  its 
officers,  and  the  attentive  and  minute  care  with 
which  its  welfare  was  studied.  But  there  is 
always  a  doubt  of  the  steadiness  of  troops  which 
have  not  been  under  fire,  and  this  is  far  more 
emphatically  the  case  in  civil  war.  After  the 
2nd  April,  it  was  known  that  the  officers  would 
be  obeyed,  and  every  one  understood  that  victory 
was  now  only  a  matter  of  time. 

In  Paris,  the  numerous  spectators  of  the  rout, 
who  crowded  the  top  of  the  Arc-de-l' Etoile,  knew 
perfectly  well  what  to  believe  ;  but  in  the  distant 
quarters,  where  information  was  uncertain  and 
contradictory,  the  populace  wanted  to  believe  in 
success.  Some  members  of  the  Commune  broke 
in  upon  the  sitting  crying,  "  Victory  !  victory  !  " 
Delescluze  made  them  hold  their  tongues,  and 
brought  them  to  a  sense  of  the  reality. 

In  the  night,  the  three  generals,  that  is  to  say, 
Brunei,  Eudes,  and  Duval,  presented  themselves 
before  the  Executive  Commission. 

They  came   to   propose   a   plan   for  marching 


THE    COMMUNE.  369 

once  more  upon  Versailles  and  making  themselves 
masters  of  the  Assembly. 

The  plan  was  extremely  simple.  The  National 
Guard  was  to  be  divided  into  three  corps;  the 
first  was  to  leave  by  the  Vaugirard  gate,  and 
to  direct  its  course  on  Versailles,  by  Issy, 
Chatillon,  Sèvres,  and  Meudon  ;  the  second  was  to 
follow  the  road  to  Courbevoie,  Puteaux,  and  Bu- 
zenval  ;  the  third  was  to  reach  Rueil,  after  passing 
beneath  Mont  Valérien.  The  composition  and  the 
strength  of  the  three  army  corps  had  not  been 
fixed  upon  ;  the  topography  of  the  environs  of 
Versailles  was  almost  unknown  ;  whether  the  army 
had  constructed  any  works,  or  whether  it  occupied 
those  made  by  the  Prussians  ;  where  its  outposts 
were  to  be  found  ;  all  this  was  uncertain.  The 
three  generals  being  convinced,  in  spite  of  the 
events  of  the  day  before,  that  the  army  would 
fraternize  with  the  National  Guard,  were  not  even 
afraid  of  passing  within  range  of  the  guns  of 
Mont  Valérien.  They  talked  of  the  expedition 
as  of  a  promenade. 

The  Executive  Commission  was  far  from  sharing 
their  opinion.  It  charged  them  to  wait,  and  to 
do  nothing  until  they  should  have  received  its 
orders  and  those  of  the  Commune.  Although  it 
bore  in  mind  the  failings  of  the  18th  March,  and 
could  not  know    the  prodigies  accomplished    at 

VOL.  I.  B  b 


370  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

Satory  by  tlie  combined  activity  of  M.  Thiers, 
tlie  generals,  and  all  our  officers,  it  knew  what 
effect  "  first  blood  "  has  on  the  spirit  of  two 
armies  face  to  face,  it  was  aware  that  the 
superiority  of  numbers  maybe  more  than  balanced 
by  discipline  and  strategy  ;  that  the  very  fact  of 
numbers  without  order  and  without  skilful  hand- 
ling is  a  cause  of  weakness,  above  all  in  a 
conflict  with  artillery  ;  and  it  was  alarmed  by 
the  aspect  of  its  own  troops,  and  the  incredible 
naïveté  of  its  generals.  Delescluze  spoke  to  them 
severely,  and  counted  on  being  obeyed.  Neither 
the  Commune  nor  the  Commission  believed  in 
any  immediate  aggressive  movement. 

But  the  faubourgs  and  the  revolutionary 
quarters  of  Paris  had  smelt  gunpowder.  The 
clubs  were  crammed  ;  open-air  orators  were  rant- 
ing in  every  street.  Nearly  all  affirmed  that  a 
first  victory  had  been  gained  over  "  the  soldiers  of 
Cathelineau  and  Charette."  A  company  of 
Bellevillites  who  had  been  well  beaten,  and  who 
(rare  exception)  admitted  the  fact,  were  threat- 
ened with  the  severest  punishments  "  for  having 
spread  false  news,  and  attempted  to  chill  the 
ardour  of  the  citizens."  Perhaps  after  all,  for 
they  did  not  mind  making  so  much  of  a  concession, 
"  the  victory  of  the  2nd  April  "  was  not  decisive  ; 
but  why  ?     Because   all    the    battalions  had   not 


THE    COMMUNE.  371 

been  employed  ;  tlie  sortie  had  not  been  "  tor- 
rential." In  order  that  this  time  due  warning 
should  be  given,  drums  beat  to  arms  all  night  long. 
The  zones  were  besieged  by  processions  which 
followed  each  other  without  an  interval  ;  women 
figuring  in  them  in  large  numbers,  some  of  them 
with  muskets  and  in  uniform.  About  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning  companies  with  their  ranks  nearly 
full  arrived  from  all  parts.  Wending  their  way  to 
the  ramparts,  they  hastened  to  remount  the  guns, 
and  to  get  them  into  position  by  manual  labour. 
They  demanded  or  rather  they  exacted  ammu- 
nition. As  for  provisions  and  ambulances,  only 
a  few  officers  gave  them  a  thought. 

The  Commune,  uuwilling  to  begin  the  struggle 
without  due  preparation,  but  who  had  not  foreseen 
this  movement,  had  inflamed  the  maddened  popu- 
lation by  the  following  proclamation,  which  was 
posted  at  nightfall  : — 

"  To  the  National  Guard  of  Paris. 

"  The  Royalist  conspirators  have  attached. 

"  In  spite  of  the  moderation  of  our  attitude, 
they  have  attached. 

"  Being  no  longer  able  to  reckon  upon  the 
French  army,  they  have  attached  with  Pontifical 
Zouaves  and  the  Imperial  police. 

"  Not  content  with  cutting  off  our  communica- 
B  b  2 


372  THE   GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

tiens  witli  tlie  provinces,  and  witli  making  vain 
efforts  to  reduce  ns  by  famine,  these  madmen  have 
resolved  to  imitate  the  Prussians  to  the  end,  and 
bombard  the  capital. 

"  This  morning  the  Chouans  of  Charette,  the 
Vendéens  of  Cathelineau,  the  Bretons  of  Trochu, 
flanked  by  Valentin's  Gendarmes,  have  covered 
the  inoffensive  village  of  Neuilly  with  shells  and 
grapeshot,  and  entered  into  a  civil  war  with  our 
National  Guard. 

"  There  have  been  some  killed  and  wounded. 

"  Elected  by  the  population  of  Paris,  our  duty 
is  to  defend  the  great  city  against  these  culpable 
aggressors.  With  your  help,  we  shall  defend 
it. 

"  The  Executive  Commission." 

The  sense  of  the  responsibility  of  "entering 
into  civil  war  "  had  come  rather  late  to  the 
Commission.  It  wanted  to  throw  that  responsi- 
bility on  the  Government  ;  which  was  pushing  the 
audacity  of  falsehood  very  far.  Had  not  the 
authors  of  the  18th  March  "  entered  upon  civil 
war  "  ?  Ought  France  to  have  done  nothing  ? 
If  the  affair  of  the  2nd  April  only  be  taken  into 
consideration,  in  good  sooth,  the  aggression  had 
not  come  from  its  side.  The  first  shot  had 
killed  Doctor  Pasquier  ;  the  Versailles  army 
had    responded   to    that  by    a    general    attack. 


THE   COMMUNE.  373 

Moreover,  what  was  tliat  swarm  of  National 
Guards  whicli  was  spread  over  the  Avenue  de  la 
Grande- Armée,  the  high  street  and  the  bridge  at 
Neuilly  ?  Whither  was  it  going  ?  To  Versailles. 
Its  march  was  the  most  formal  of  aggressions  ; 
and  had  there  only  been  that,  the  aggression  came 
from  the  Commune,  and  the  Assembly  and  the 
Government  did  but  defend  themselves.  But  it 
was  not  on  the  2nd  April  that  France  was 
attacked  for  the  first  time  ;  she  had  been  already 
attacked  on  the  18th  March,  and  even  before  the 
18th. 

If  on  the  2nd  April  the  Assembly  had  com- 
menced the  attack  first,  it  would  have  only 
employed  its  right.  There  were  many  who  held 
that  it  was  too  long  to  have  waited  fourteen 
days,  and  that  the  attack  ought  to  have  been 
begun  on  the  19th.  At  Versailles,  this  was 
the  opinion  of  all  those  who  imagined  that 
General  Vinoy  had  brought  back  real  soldiers 
and  a  real  army  from  Paris,  during  the  night 
of  the  18th  and  19th.  The  complaints  of  the 
Executive  Commission  were  as  legitimate  as 
those  of  a  man  who,  having  stabbed  you  with 
a  dagger  and  against  whom  you  were  defending 
your  life,  should  say  to  you,  "you  attack 
me." 

Had  the  election  of  the  26th  perchance  changed 


374  THE    GOVEENMENT   OP    M.    THIERS. 

the  reciprocal  position  of  the  parties  ?  Had  it 
effaced  the  rights  created  by  the  election  of  the 
10th  February  ?  This  was  indeed  the  assertion 
made  by  the  Commune,  and  it  must  be  admitted 
that  there  never  was  a  more  outrageous  one.  The 
members  of  the  Commune,  elected  on  the  26th 
March,  in  virtue  of  an  illegal  and  culpable  sum- 
mons, by  a  quarter  at  most  of  the  population  of 
Paris,  if  the  votes  given  to  the  party  of  order  were 
taken  into  account,  affected  to  call  themselves  the 
elect  of  the  people,  the  representatives  of  the 
national  will  ;  not  only  did  they  oppose  their  pre- 
tended right  to  that  of  the  National  Assembly 
elected  by  the  rest  of  France,  and  by  Paris  itself; 
but  they  said,  and  seemed  to  believe,  that  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  Assembly  to  retire  before  them, 
and  disappear.  This  incredible  sophism  is  to  be 
found  in  every  proclamation  issued  by  them  in  a 
space  of  two  months.  Three  days  after  the  entry 
of  the  troops  into  Paris,  when  their  fall  was  an 
accomplished  fact,  they  offered  to  "  resign  "  on 
condition  that  the  National  Assembly  should 
resign  simultaneously.  A  certain  number  of 
"  conciliators  "  whom  by-and-by  we  shall  see  at 
work,  held  very  similar  language,  or  at  any  rate, 
made  similar  proposals.  From  its  origin,  the 
Central  Committee  had  treated  the  resistance  of 
the  mayors  as  rebellion  against  the  will  of  the 


THE    COMMUNE.  375 

People.     In  fhe  proclamations  the  "  insurgents  '* 
of  Versailles  were  glibly  spoken  of. 

It  is  certain  that  Versailles  did  not  begin  the 
attack  on  the  2nd  April  ;  but  not  only  had  it  the 
right  to  attack,  it  was  bound  to  do  so,  and  was 
about  to  fulfil  that  duty,  when  the  murder  of 
Dr.  Pasquier  precipitated  events.  M.  Thiers  had 
only  left  Paris  on  the  16th  March,  in  order  to 
retake  the  city  by  persuasion  or  by  force.  The 
Assembly  was  beginning  to  blame  his  tardiness 
when  March  ended;  but  he,  firm  in  his  resolu- 
tions, knowing  perfectly  what  he  wanted,  incapable 
of  allowing  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  vain 
impulses,  had  resolved  that  he  would  not  bring 
the  army  into  action  until  he  had  remodelled  it. 
He  had  enlarged  and  improved  the  huts  at  Satory  ; 
he  had  quartered  the  army  there,  and  isolated  it  ; 
he  had  made  its  ofiScers  camp  out  with  their  men  ; 
he  had  personally  inspected  the  quantity  and  good 
quality  of  the  provisions  ;  he  had  increased  the 
rations;  he  had  repaired  the  equipment,  being 
well  aware  that  a  well-clothed  soldier,  wearing  a 
regular  uniform,  is  better  disposed  to  submit  to 
discipline  and  to  like  it.  He  visited  the  camp 
daily,  and  displayed  in  his  inspections  and  his 
conversations  with  the  officers  as  much  solicitude 
and  variety  of  knowledge  as  their  own.  It  is  but 
just  to  say  that  he  was  seconded  with  patriotic 


'676  THE   GOVEENMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

devotion  by  all  our  officers,  from  the  general-in- 
cliief  down  to  the  youngest  sub-lieutenant.  He 
did  justice  to  the  activity  and  ability  of  our 
officers.  All  who  were  near  him  during  these 
days  of  mortal  anxiety  heard  him  speak  over  and 
over  again,  with  deep  feelings  of  hope  and 
admiration,  of  the  rapid  transformation  of  our 
army.  This  had  been  evident  from  the  very  first, 
but  it  progressed  with  giant's  strides  so  soon  as 
the  recruits,  brought  back  from  Paris  on  the  19th 
of  March  had  been  formed  into  companies  and 
battalions,  with  the  help  of  the  old  regiments 
which  the  enemy  gave  back  to  us  or  those 
which  were  summoned  from  the  departments. 
*'  Nothing,"  said  M.  Thiers,  "  is  a  stronger  proof 
of  the  amount  of  power  and  vitality  in  our 
country."  In  spite  of  this,  he  was  in  no  hurry 
to  commence  the  conflict;  he  dreaded  the  first 
fire.  He  was  now  no  longer  in  doubt  respecting 
the  prowess  of  the  army,  but  he  was  still  a  little 
suspicious  of  its  goodwill.  All  was  decided  by 
that  first  shot,  fired  before  the  engagement,  which 
killed  an  officer,  a  doctor,  a  man  who  was  beloved 
and  popular.  From  that  moment,  until  the  end 
of  the  campaign,  the  difficulty  was  not  to  excite 
the  ardour  of  the  troops,  but  to  restrain  it.  This 
is  the  history  of  civil  wars  ;  brothers  perhaps, 
before  the  battle  ;  after  the  first  blood,  enemies. 


THE   COMMUNE.  377 

The  Federal  Generals,  without  heeding  the  orders 
of  the  Executive  Commission,  and  obeying  the 
manifestations  of  the  faubourgs,  had  sent  their 
army  forward,  very  early  on  the  3rd  April. 
Bergeret  and  Flourens  commanded  two  columns, 
which  were  to  unite  at  Neuilly  ;  Duval  and  Eudes 
took  the  road  by  Vaugirard.  Each  battalion 
joined  the  general  whom  it  preferred  ;  Flourens, 
whose  prestige  was  immense,  and  whose  popularity 
was  of  long  standing,  since  it  was  six  months 
old,  had  the  largest  body  of  men  with  him.  The 
commandant  of  Mont  Valérien  estimated  the 
forces  that  marched  under  the  command  of 
Flourens  at  30,000  men.  This  mass  of  men 
dragged  with  it  three  field-pieces,  and  advanced 
without  order,  at  random,  full  of  foolish  con- 
fidence. The  insurgents  had  counted  on  the 
neutrality  and  complicity  of  Mont  Valérien,  and 
were  near  the  cross-roads  of  Bergères,  when  the 
fortress  opened  fire  with  terrible  effect.  Half  the 
insurgents  took  to  their  heels  and  ran  away,  re- 
entering Paris  by  the  Neuilly  road  ;  the  remainder 
endeavoured  to  make  a  stand,  and  pointed  their 
three  guns  against  the  fort;  but  the  artillery 
dismounted  two  of  their  cannon,  and  scattered 
the  men  in  all  directions.  A  considerable  number, 
however,  formed  again  on  the  near  side  of  the 
hill,  and  pushed  on  as  far  as  Reuil,  making  a  dash 


378  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

on  Bougival,  six  kilometers  from  Versailles.  There 
tliey  were  surrounded  by  several  divisions  of  the 
army,  aïid  fled  helter-skelter  from  the  heavy  fire 
of  the  artillery.  The  cavalry  division  under 
General  Du  Preuil  charged  the  fugitives  in  the 
open  plain  that  extends  from  Nanterre  to  Reuil. 
It  was  during  this  charge  that  Gustave  Flourens 
was  met  by  some  gendarmes  in  a  house  at  Chatou, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Seine.  He  shot  the  first 
who  presented  himself,  and  was  cut  down  by  a 
captain. 

The  columns  that  had  followed  Eudes  and 
Duval  by  the  Versailles  gate  reached  Meudon, 
but  could  not  maintain  themselves  there.  They 
were  dislodged  from  this  position  by  the  Re- 
publican Guard  and  the  La  Mariouse  Brigade, 
and  forced  to  retreat  in  disorder  on  Châtillon. 
Another  band  of  Federals  had  pushed  as  far  as 
the  hamlet  of  Villacoublay;  but  they  were  put 
to  rout  by  General  Derroja  and  the  Pelle  Division, 
and  thrown  back  on  the  Châtillon  redoubt,  where 
they  arrived  towards  night.  The  attempt  of  the 
Federals  on  Versailles,  in  spite  of  the  courage 
displayed  by  a  large  number  of  them  on  the 
battle-field,  had  failed  miserably,  as  was  to  be 
expected,  owing  to  the  presumption  and  utter 
incapacity  of  their  generals.  The  defeat  was  too 
complete  to  be  remediable.     Nevertheless,  the  dis- 


THE    COMMUNE.  379 

orderly  crowds  liad  very  nearly  reached  Versailles, 
since  tliey  had  even  for  a  moment  occupied 
Bougival,  Villacoublay,  and  the  heights  of  Meudon. 
Had  they  been  better  led,  they  might  have  become 
a  serious  danger  for  the  Assembly.  M.  Thiers 
gave  orders  to  General  Vinoy  to  take  possession 
of  the  plateau  of  Châtillon,  and  to  occupy  Genne- 
villiers  in  force.  The  General  became  master  of 
the  plateau  on  the  4th  April,  after  an  obstinate 
fight,  in  which  the  unfortunate  Duval,  one  of 
the  generals  improvised  by  the  Commune,  was 
killed. 

It  is  related  that  the  general-in-chief,  on  reach- 
ing the  battle-field,  observed  several  prisoners, 
among  whom  one  was  pointed  out  to  him  as  Duval. 
He  called  him  out  of  the  ranks,  and  addressed 
him,  "  How  would  you  treat  me  if  I  were  in  your 
place  ?"  "I  would  have  you  shot."  "  Lead  him 
to  the  wall  "  Between  them  and  the  wall  there 
was  a  ditch  ;  Duval  jumped  nimbly  across,  turned 
composedly  round  to  the  firing-party,  and  fell, 
crying,  "  Long  live  the  Commune  !  "  This  was  a 
hero's  death.  The  dialogue  is  apocryphal;  but 
Duval's  courageous  death  is  a  well-established 
fact.  The  war  had  lasted  but  for  two  days  as 
yet,  but  it  already  had  every  horror. 

Gennevilliers  cost  more  time  and  trouble  to 
take  than  the  plateau  of  Châtillon.     It  had  to  be 


380  THE   GOVEENMENT  OP   M.    THIERS. 

won  by  a  series  of  very  deadly  little  fights,  wliicli 
were  going  on  from  the  5th  to  the  10th  April. 

On  the  10th  April  the  operation  was  concluded 
by  the  occupation  of  Asnieres,  where  the  troops 
of  General  Ladmirault  established  themselves. 
The  line  of  outposts  of  the  army  of  Versailles 
was  then  stretched  all  along  the  Seine  from  St. 
Denis,  where  it  bordered  on  the  Prussian  out- 
posts, as  far  as  Lower  Meudon.  The  insurgents 
could  no  longer  attempt  any  movement  on  Ver- 
sailles, and  found  themselves  reduced  to  a  de- 
fensive war. 

Two  great  facts  were  established  by  those  few 
days'  fighting;  that  Paris,  during  the  second 
siege,  as  in  the  first,  having  no  army  to  relieve  it 
from  without,  could  defend  itself  but  not  attack  ; 
and  that  the  Insurrection  had  formidable  artillery, 
skilful  gunners,  and  intrepid  soldiers.  The  war, 
under  these  circumstances,  must  inevitably  be  a 
long  one. 

It  is  true  that  the  Commune  was  heaping 
blunder  on  blunder  The  first,  from  a  military 
point  of  view,  was  its  having  kept  the  generals 
of  the  Central  Committee,  and  not  having  known 
how  to  make  them  obey  it  on  3rd  April.  The 
Executive  Commission,  warned  by  its  first  dis- 
asters, hastily  took  some  indispensable  precau- 
tions. 


THE    COiMMUNE.  381 

This  Commission,  when  first  formed,  included 
the  citizens  Eudes,  Tridon,  Vaillant,  Lefrançais, 
Duval,  Felix  Pyat,  and  Bergeret.  Properly 
speaking,  it  was  to  constitute  the  government. 
Nine  other  commissions  represented  the  ministries, 
and  each  one  had  a  delegate,  whose  office  was 
almost  that  of  a  minister.  Ths  seven  members 
who  composed  the  first  Executive  Commission 
had  not  been  selected  for  their  military  knowledge. 
Eudes,  Duval,  and  Bergeret  had  the  title  of 
general  ;  it  had  either  been  given  them,  or  they 
had  assumed  it.  Eudes  we  know.  Duval,  first 
a  workman,  and  afterwards  a  petty  shopkeeper, 
had  never  served  except  in  the  National  Guard. 
He  was  scarcely  thirty  years  old.  He  knew  not 
how  to  command,  but  he  showed  that  he  knew 
how  to  die.  Bergeret,  who  also  was  only  thirty- 
two  years  of  age,  had  been,  it  is  said,  a  stable- 
boy.  Yet  he  could  not  ride  on  horseback,  and 
marched  to  victory  in  a  cab.  He  had,  moreover, 
been  a  printer's  reader,  which  implies  that  he  had 
at  least  some  amount  of  education.  He  was  a 
sergeant  in  the  National  Guard  ;  and  had  held  the 
same  rank  in  the  army.  From  a  sergeant  he 
became  a  general,  and  even  a  minister,  for  he 
was  Minister  of  War  for  a  short  period,  Their 
four  colleagues  in  the  commission  were  all  civi- 
lians.    Tridon,  aged  thirty,  a  man  of  considerable 


382  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

property,  and  some  distinction  in  literature,  was 
a  disciple  of  Blanqui  ;  Vaillant,  aged  thirty,  was 
a  physician,  an  engineer,  formerly  a  student  at 
the  Universities  of  Heidelberg,  Vienna,  and 
Tubingen,  a  very  learned  man,  who  had  been 
unable  to  adopt  either  a  country,  a  career,  or  a 
doctrine,  unless  perhaps  it  were  the  philosophy  of 
Hegel,  and  who  seemed  to  have  returned  to  France 
only  to  become  a  member  of  the  International 
Association,  the  Central  Committee,  and  the 
Commune  :  it  was  he  who  said  :  "  The  sole  debt 
of  society  to  priuces  is  death."  Lefrançais 
was  an  ex-tutor,  and  an  ex-merchant,  a  sincere 
and  ardent  Republican,  concerned  in  all  the 
disturbances,  one  of  the  orators  of  the  Paris 
clubs  ;  finally,  Felix  Pyat  was  the  celebrated 
author  of  some  declamatory  dramas  and  some 
violent  pamphlets.  When  a  representative  of 
the  people  in  1848,  he  had  sat  with  the  parly 
of  the  "  Montagne,"  and  was  one  of  those 
condemned  in  June  in  the  affair  of  the  Arts-et- 
Metiers,  in  which  Ledru  Rollin  was  implicated. 
As  a  journalist  during  the  siege,  he  attacked  the 
Government  of  Defence,  and  demanded  the  "  tor- 
rential "  sortie.  Elected  a  deputy  in  1871,  he 
appeared  at  Bordeaux  only  to  declare  the  Assem- 
bly dissolved,  by  reason  of  its  vote  on  the  pre- 
liminaries of  peace.     He  was  sixty-one  years   of 


THE    COMMUNE.  383 

age,  six  years  older  than  Lefrançais,  and  the  senior 
member  of  the  Executive  Commission.  Such  was 
the  Government  which  wanted  to  impose  itself 
upon  France,  and  had  to  sustain  the  war  against 
the  army  of  Versailles. 

It  was  assisted  in  the  latter  task  by  the  Military 
Commission,  which,  like  the  other,  was  somewhat 
ill-composed.  We  find  in  it  first  of  all  the  three 
generals  Eudes,  Bergeret,  and  Duval,  (Duval 
had  just  died  on  the  field  of  battle,)  then  Flourens, 
who  had  also  been  killed  in  the  first  engagement. 
The  latter  was  the  son  of  a  famous  scholar,  a 
scholar  himself,  for  a  time  his  father's  substitute 
at  the  College  de  France,  fond  of  revolutions  and 
adventures,  of  which  he  went  in  search  as  far  as 
Crete,  the  idol  of  the  Belleville  people,  a  little  mad, 
very  dangerous,  but  never  wicked.  It  was  he 
who  asked  General  Trochu  to  give  up  to  him  the 
command  of  the  army.  "  It  is  our  only  means  of 
winning,'*  he  said  ;  and  he  believed  it. 

The  other  members  of  the  Military  Commission 
were  Pindy,  Chardon,  and  Ranvier  ;  Pindy  was 
a  working  carpenter,  and  an  influential  member 
of  the  '*  Internationale  ;"  Chardon  had  formerly 
been  a  tinker,  but  had  enlisted  during  the  siege 
in  the  cavalry  of  the  republic  ;  Ranvier  was  first 
a  landscape  painter  without  any  talent,  then  a 
clever  decorator;    a   great   club-man,    mayor   of 


384  THE   GOVEENMENT   OP   M.   THIERS. 

Belleville  for  a  short  time  during  tlie  siege,  and 
afterwards  one  of  the  colonels  of  the  Com- 
mune. 

The  Executive  Commission  had  begun  its  series 
of  military  operations  by  decreeing  the  abolition 
of  the  conscription  ;  a  pure  matter  of  form  for 
people  who  had  already  suppressed  the  standing 
army.  This  decree  is  dated  the  29th  March.  On 
1st  April  a  new  decree,  more  important  in  its 
consequences,  divided  the  command  between  the 
three  generals,  who  were  to  make  such  a  fine 
use  of  it  on  the  morrow  and  the  day  follow- 
ing. 

"Paris,  1st  April,  1871. 

"  The  Commune  of  Paris  decrees  : 

"  1st.  The  title  and  functions  of  Commander- 
in-chief  are  abolished. 

"  2nd.  Citizen  Brunei  is  removed  from  his  post. 

"  Brd.  Citizen  Eudes  is  delegate  for  war, 
Bergeret,  delegate  for  the  staff  of  the  National 
Guard,  and  Duval  delegate  for  the  military  com- 
mand of  the  ex-prefecture  of  police. 

"  The  Executive  Commission." 

Brunei  had  written  with  his  own  hand,  under- 
neath an  order  from  the  Central  Committee  : — 
*'  This  order,  having  been  despatched  without 
the  authority  of  the  commander-in-chief,  is 
annulled."       The     Central     Committee,     whose 


THE    COMMUNE.  385 

influence  was  all-powerful,  could  no  longer  bear 
either  that  title  nor  that  man.  The  title  was 
abolished,  they  were  satisfied  with  placing  the 
man  on  the  unattached  list.  The  Commune  was 
still  in  its  honeymoon.  It  treated  Eudes  and 
Bergeret,  after  their  disobedience  and  the  mis- 
fortunes of  the  2nd  and  3rd  April,  with  similar 
gentleness.  There  was  a  sitting  at  the  Hotel  de 
Yille  on  the  3rd,  while  the  generals  were  marching 
on  Versailles  in  contempt  of  express  and  formal 
orders.  Delescluze  had  arrived  in  great  excite- 
ment ;  he  asked  whether  the  generals  were  above 
the  Executive  Commission  and  the  Commune? 
He  quoted  the  opinion  of  Cluseret,  who  was  saying 
everywhere,  "  The  movement  that  has  been  com- 
menced is  mere  childishness,"  and  called  for 
severe  measures  against  the  offenders.  The  ma- 
jority assented  to  the  charge  of  disobedience,  but 
thought  it  was  well  done,  as  it  would  put  an  end  to 
the  Versailles  insurrection  in  the  course  of  the  day. 
They  read  with  enthusiasm  despatche  slike  the  fol- 
lowing ;  which  were  sent  to  them  by  the  generals. 

*'  20  minutes  past  11. 

"  Bergeret  and  Flourens  have  affected  a  junc- 
tion ;  they  are  marching  on  Versailles.  Certain 
success." 

"  2  o'clock. 

**  About  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  columns 

VOL.  I.  C   C 


386  THE    GOVEENMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

commanded  by  General  Bergeret  and  Colonel 
Flonrens  effected  a  junction  at  the  cross-roads  of 
Courbevoie.  No  sooner  had  they  arrived  than  a 
heavy  fire  was  opened  upon  them  by  Mont  Yalérien. 
"  The  troops  thereupon  sheltered  themselves 
behind  walls  and  houses.  Thus  protected,  the 
commanders  were  able  to  organize  a  movement 
which  completely  succeeded,  and  the  two  columns 
were  able  to  clear  the  lines  and  set  out  on  their 
march  to  "Versailles. 

"  General  Bergeret,  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  led 
them  on  to  the  cry  of  '  Long  live  the  Republic  !  ' 
and  has  had  two  horses  killed. 

"  The  fire  of  the  Yersailles  Army  did  not 
cause  us  any  appreciable  loss." 

These  audacious  bulletins  were  contradicted 
one  after  another  by  fresh  testimony,  and  before 
the  end  of  the  sitting  it  was  known  that  the  rout 
had  been  complete.  Thereupon,  Delescluze  spoke 
again  with  renewed  vigour,  and  imperatively 
demanded  the  dismissal  of  the  generals,  who  had 
disobeyed  the  Commune  and  led  its  army  to  defeat. 
But  the  accused  were  popular  among  the  National 
Guard  and  in  the  assembly  which  Delescluze  was 
addressing.  To  condemn  them,  when  their  fault 
had  been  that  of  yielding  to  the  patriotic  ardour  of 
the  National  Guard,  was  to  condemn  the  National 
Guard  itself!     After  a  stormy  debate,  in  which 


THE    COMMUNE.  387 

Delescluze  steadily  "held  Ms  ground  against  the 
majority,  it  was  decided  that  the  generals  should 
be  replaced  in  the  Executive  Commission,  and, 
without  their  command  being  withdrawn  from 
them,  that  Cluseret  should  be  put  over  them  as 
delegate  for  war.  These  changes  were  notified  to 
them  in  the  following  letter,  which  does  not  con- 
tain one  word  of  blame.  At  the  time  when  it 
was  written,  Duval's  death  was  not  yet  known. 
The  successors  of  Eudes,  Bergeret,  and  Duval 
in  the  Executive  Commission  were  Delescluze, 
Cournet,  and  Yermorel. 

"  To  Citizens  Bergeret,  Duval,  and  Eudes. 
"  Citizens, 

**  We  have  the  honour  to  inform  you  that  in 
order  to  allow  you  full  liberty  to  conduct  the 
military  operations  entrusted  to  you,  the  Commune 
has  just  appointed  General  Cluseret  to  the  direc- 
tion of  the  War  department. 

"  The  Assembly  is  convinced  that,  considering 
the  gravity  of  the  circumstances  in  which  we  are 
placed,  it  is  important  to  establish  unity  in  the 
administrative  service  of  the  war. 

"  The  Commune  also  considers  it  indispensable 
provisionally  to  appoint  others  in  your  place 
in  the  Executive  Commission,  in  the  labours 
of  which  your  military  position  no  longer  per- 
mits you  to  take  an  active  part.'* 

0  c  2 


388  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

Delescluze,  Vermorel,  Felix  Pjat,  Cournet, 
Taillant,  Tridon  :  the  Revolution  of  March  18th 
was  ending  in  a  Government  of  journalists. 
Lefrançais,  who  did  not  write  for  the  papers,  had 
been  a  schoolmaster.  They  were  all  bourgeois. 
Not  one  of  them  had  any  knowledge  of  military 
affairs. 

After  the  double  defeat  of  the  2nd  and  3rd  April, 
the  first  thought  of  the  Commission  and  of  the 
Commune  was  of  revenge.  MM.  Thiers,  Jules 
Favre,  Ernest  Picard,  Dufaure,  Jules  Simon, 
and  Admiral  Pothuau,  were  impeached  ;  and  their 
property  was  sequestrated.  That  decree  was 
but  child's  play;  the  following  was  quite  dif- 
ferent. 

"  The  Commune  of  Paris, — 

"  Considering  that  the  Government  of  Versailles 
openly  tramples  underfoot  the  rights  of  humanity 
as  well  as  those  of  war  ;  that  it  is  guilty  of 
horrors  with  which  not  even  the  invaders  of 
French  soil  are  stained  ; 

"  Considering  that  it  is  the  imperative  duty  of 
the  representatives  of  the  Commune  of  Paris 
to  defend  the  honour  and  the  life  of  2,000,000  of 
inhabitants,  who  have  placed  the  care  of  their 
destinies  in  their  bands  ;  and  that  it  behoves 
them  to  take  at  once  all  measures  which  are 
necessitated  by  the  situation  ; 


THE    COMMUNE.  389 

"  Considering    that    political     men    and     city- 
magistrates  ought  to  reconcile  the  common  weal 
with  respect  for  public  liberties  ; 
"  Decrees  : 

"  Art.  1.  All  persons  suspected  of  complicity 
with  the  Versailles  Government  shall  be  immedi- 
ately accused  and  incarcerated. 

''Art.  2.  A  jury  of  inquiry  shall  be  appointed 
within  the  twenty-four  hours,  to  investigate  the 
crimes  which  shall  be  brought  before  it. 

"  Art.  3.  The  jury  shall  come  to  a  decision 
within  forty-eight  hours. 

"  Art.  4.  All  accused  persons  who  shall  be  de- 
tained by  the  jury  of  inquiry,  shall  be  hostages 
of  the  people  of  Paris. 

"  Art.  5.  Every  execution  of  a  prisoner  of  war, 
or  of  a  partisan  of  the  regular  Government  of  the 
Commune  of  Paris,  shall  at  once  be  followed  by  the 
execution  of  a  triple  number  of  hostages  retained 
by  virtue  of  Article  No.  4,  and  for  whom  lots  shall 
be  drawn. 

"  Art.  6.  Every  prisoner  of  war  shall  be  brought 
before  the  jury  of  inquiry,  who  shall  decide  whether 
he  is  to  be  set  at  hberty  immediately,  or  detained 
as  an  hostage." 

Messrs.  Lanjalley  and  Corriez,  the  authors  of 
"L'Histoire  de  la  Eévolution  du  18  Mars," 
assert    that   this   decree    was   the    work   of    the 


390  THE   GOVEENMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

moderate  members  of  the  Commune,  particularly 
of  Delescluze,  wlio  was  the  wise  and  temperate  one 
among  tliem.  He  proposed  it  and  had  it  voted, 
in  order  to  prevent  the  Commune  from  immediately 
shooting  a  certain  number  of  hostages,  chosen  in 
preference  from  among  the  clergy.  They  would 
have  us  believe  that  this  savage  decree  was 
chiefly  a  clever  device.  It  ordered  assassination, 
but  it  set  down  rules  for  it  ;  it  permitted  it  to  be 
adjourned.  It  gave  to  suspected  persons  the 
guarantee  of  a  thorough  investigation  to  be  con- 
cluded vdthin  forty-eight  hours,  and  the  chance 
of  the  lot  to  those  who  were  condemned  to 
death.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  shall  see  that 
the  profound  calculations  of  the  "  moderate  " 
party  were  of  no  use.  The  carnage  took  place. 
There  was  no  drawing  of  lots.  Rigault  and  Ferré 
chose  their  victims  arbitrarily.  They  killed  in  the 
heap. 

It  has  been  remarked  as  a  strange  coincidence 
that  the  same  day  (April  6th)  on  which  the  Com- 
mune promulgated  this  decree,  the  people  were 
indulging  themselves  in  burning  the  guillotine 
at  the  foot  of  the  statue  of  Voltaire.  The  office 
of  public  executioner  was  abolished  by  decree.  It 
was  not  the  first  time  that  ferocity  and  philanthropy 
had  been  seen  in  company.  As  under  the  Reign 
of  Terror,   so   under  the   Commune   there   were 


THE    COMMUNE.  391 

proscribcrs  who  were  philanthropists  at  the  same 
time.  The  difference  between  the  two  periods 
rests  chiefly  in  the  instrument.  The  Eeign  of 
Terror  abused  the  guillotine  ;  the  Commune  burned 
it  ;  but  then,  the  Commune  had  its  firing-party. 

While  it  threatened  the  "Royalists"  of  Versailles 
with  terrible  reprisals,  the  Commune  issued  a 
decree  by  which  it  adopted  the  families  of  citizens 
who  had  fallen  or  might  fall  in  its  defence.  It 
promised  their  widows  a  pension  of  600  francs. 
In  the  excess  of  its  sensibility  it  extended  its 
solicitude  to  the  families  of  "  Yersaillais,"  who 
were  left  in  Paris  unprovided  for,  while  their 
heads  were  fighting  under  the  orders  of  Charette 
and  Cathelineau,  declaring  that  "  the  Republic  had 
help  for  all  widows,  and  kisses  for  all  orphans.'' 

Cluseret,  whom  the  Commune  had  just  called 
to  the  management  of  the  war,  was  an  adventurer, 
but  he  was  not  incapable  like  his  brother- generals. 
He  was  not  a  member  of  the  Commune  at  the 
time  of  his  nomination  as  delegate  for  war,  nor 
until  the  supplementary  elections;  but  it  was 
felt  that  improvised  generals  would  no  longer  do. 
Educated  at  St.  Cyr,  major  in  the  Garde  Mobile 
in  1848,  captain  in  the  Chasseurs  d'Afrique, 
very  brave,  very  clever  in  his  profession,  Cluseret 
had  an  honourable  career  open  to  him  ;  but  his 
irregular  conduct  had  obliged  him  to  leave  the 


392  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

French  army.  Since  then  he  had  lived  at  random. 
At  one  time  we  find  him  steward  of  M.  Carayon- 
Latour's  estates.  He  was  in  America  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war  of  ItaUan  Unity;  there  he 
recruited  a  legion  of  volunteers,  and  brought  them 
over  to  Garibaldi,  who  first  made  him  a  colonel, 
then  a  general.  Afterwards  he  returned  to  America 
and  served  in  the  Army  of  the  North  during  the 
war  of  Secession,  as  colonel  of  the  staff".  Between 
the  wars  he  became  a  newspaper-correspondent 
in  New  York,  London,  or  Paris,  never  writing 
except  in  the  most  advanced  Liberal  papers.  He 
soon  entered  the  "  Internationale."  He  joined 
even  the  Fenians  during  one  of  his  visits  to 
England.  If  it  be  true,  as  it  is  affirmed,  that 
he  took  part  in  the  expedition  against  Chester 
Castle,  he  was  truly  predestined  to  become  a 
general  under  the  Commune.  After  4th  April  he 
accepted  the  post  which  was  offered  him,  and  per- 
haps had  made  up  his  mind  to  become  dictator. 
At  any  rate,  he  intended  to  be  absolute  master 
in  his  department,  and  he  would  have  been  so 
indeed  had  a  strong  will  joined  to  real  capacity 
been  sufficient  for  the  purpose. 

Two  days  after  his  appointment  he  addressed 
a  Eeport  to  the  Executive  Commission,  in  which 
the  following  passage  occurs  : — 

*'  The  situation  may  be  summed  up  thus  :  ex- 


THE   COMMUNE.  393 

cellent  soldiers,  officers,  some  very  good  and 
others  very  bad.  A  great  deal  of  dash  (élan), 
little  enough  stability.  When  the  war  companies 
shall  have  been  formed  and  freed  from  the 
stationary  element,  we  shall  have  first-class 
troops,  whose  effective  force  will  exceed  100,000. 
I  cannot  impress  too  strongly  on  the  Guards 
that  they  should  direct  all  their  attention  to  the 
choice  of  their  commanders. 

"  At  present  the  relative  positions  of  the  two 
armies  may  be  summed  up  thus  :  the  Prussians  of 
Versailles  occupy  the  positions  of  their  congeners 
from  beyond  the  Rhine  ;  we  occupy  the  trenches. 
Les  Moulineaux,  and  the  railway  station  of 
Clamart. 

"  In  fact,  our  position  is  that  of  men  who,  strong 
in  the  right,  wait  patiently  to  be  attacked, 
content  with  defending  themselves. 

"  ....  In  conclusion,  citizens,  I  think  that  if 
your  troops  keep  cool  and  collected,  and  husband 
their  ammunition,  the  enemy  will  get  tired  before 
we  shall.'* 

The  remark  upon  the  officers,  "  some  very 
good,  others  very  bad,"  the  warning  not  to  waste 
ammunition,  and  above  all,  the  declaration  that  it 
was  necessary  to  await  patiently  the  enemy's 
attack  and  to  keep  on  the  defensive,  are  the 
words    of   a   man  who  is  not  afraid  to  tell  the 


394  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

truth.  He  did  not  stint  it  in  reference  to  tlie 
members  of  the  Commune,  whom  he  plainly  called 
idiots. 

The  Commune,  until  April  11th,  had  before  it 
the  former  army  of  Paris,  re-enforced  by  the 
regiments  from  the  other  side  of  the  Loire, 
and  commanded  by  General  Yinoy.  It  was  only 
after  April  11th  that  the  real  army  of  Versailles, 
so  patiently  organized  by  M.  Thiers,  and  in  which 
several  of  the  regiments  restored  by  Germany 
were  comprised,  took  the  field  under  the  superior 
command  of  Marshal  MacMahon,  while  General 
Vinoy,  who  had  just  been  made  Grand-Chancellor 
of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  took  the  command  of 
the  reserve. 

A  more  spirited  and  general  efiFort  was  now  to  be 
made;  hitherto,  the  chiefs  of  the  Versailles  army 
had  been  almost  exclusively  absorbed  in  the 
work  of  organization.  Cluseret  had  taken  ad- 
vantage of  the  few  days  during  which  Vinoy's 
army  was  undergoing  transformation,  slackened 
the  attack,  to  organize  the  resistance.  The 
ramparts  were  repaired  round  about  the  Maillot 
gate,  the  gate  itself  was  put  into  good  condition, 
and  the  drawbridge  restored.  The  gun-boats, 
completely  armed,  were  moored  near  the  viaduct 
on   the   road   to   Auteuil    so    as    to   protect   the 


THE    COMMUNE,  395 

Southern  forts.  Iron-plated  waggons,  movable 
fortresses,  laden  with  cannon  and  mitrailleuses, 
began  to  run  on  the  railroads. 

Cluseret  had  set  four  objects  before  him:  to 
augment  the  effective  strength  of  the  National 
Guard;  to  separate  the  depot  of  the  National 
Guard  from  the  marching  battalions  ;  to  complete 
the  armament  and  the  administrative  services, 
and  thoroughly  to  reorganize  the  command. 

He  began  by  declaring  that  the  military  service 
should  be  optional  for  young  men  from  seventeen 
to  nineteen  years  old,  and  obligatory  for  all  un- 
married men  from  nineteen  to  forty  years  old. 
Two  days  after,  on  April  6th,  he  recalled  this,  and 
made  service  obligatory  for  every  man  from  nine- 
teen to  forty  years  old,  whether  married  or  single. 
Paris  trembled  at  this  decision,  which  compelled 
the  enemies  of  the  Commune  to  fight  on  its  behalf. 
He  had  also  ruled  that  "  whereas  permanent 
armies  had  been  abolished,"  all  soldiers  present  in 
Paris  were  of  right  to  be  enrolled  in  the  National 
Guard.  As  might  have  been  expected,  there 
was  an  immense  number  of  defaulters.  Cluseret 
demanded  denunciation,  and,  charging  the  Na- 
tional Guard  to  hunt  up  the  defaulters,  said, 
"  Discharge  among  yourselves  the  duties  of  a 
patriotic  police."     In  consequence,  he  gave  the 


396  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

National  Guard  the  riglit  of  searching  private 
dwellings.  Then  in  each  arrondissement  bureaux 
were  established,  armed  with  wide  and  formidable 
powers.  Various  penalties  were  enacted,  more 
and  more  severe,  as  recruiting  became  more 
difficult;  disarmament,  the  interdiction  of  civil 
rights  ;  trial  by  Court-Martial.  A  municipal 
order,  after  Cluseret's  time,  referring  to  defaulters, 
said  :  "  The  penalty  incurred  is  that  of  death." 
It  was  proposed  that  the  pupils  should  be  taken 
from  the  colleges,  the  seminarists  and  monks  from 
the  convents.  The  head-master  of  Saint  Louis, 
Monsieur  Joguet,  did  himself  great  honour  by  his 
courageous  resistance.  The  Dominicans  of 
Arcueil,  who  refused  to  bear  arms  and  to  work 
at  the  barricades,  but  offered  to  carry  litters  and 
serve  with  the  ambulances,  were  cast  into  prison, 
and  finally  massacred. 

To  escape  from  being  enrolled,  many  persons 
had  recourse  to  flight,  to  disguise,  to  changes  of 
residence  ;  Cluseret  decided  that  no  one  should 
be  allowed  to  leave  Paris  for  the  future  without  a 
passport.  Passports  were  fraudulently  obtained, 
he  ruled  that  no  man  from  nineteen  to  forty  years 
of  age  was  to  leave  Paris  at  all,  on  any  pretext. 
The  trains  were  carefully  watched  ;  the  arrests  in 
the  railway  stations  at  the  departures  increased  in 
in   number.     A  few  of  the  defaulters  purchased 


THE    COMMUNE.  397 

permission  to  get  up  on  the  engines,  dressed 
like  stokers,  and  begrimed  with  soot.  Others 
bethought  themselves  of  following  a  hearse  with 
sorrowful  looks  as  far  as  the  exterior  cemeteries  ; 
when  they  would  throw  a  wi^eath  of  immortelles 
on  the  coffin,  and  gaily  take  the  road  to  Versailles. 
Cluseret  got  wind  of  this  manoeuvre  and  thence- 
forth only  women  were  permitted  to  attend 
funerals.  Some  young  men  were  let  down  from 
the  walls,  and  escaped  from  Paris  as  from  a  prison. 
A  story  is  told  of  a  poet  who  hired  a  vehicle 
from  an  old  driver,  changed  clothes  with  him, 
put  him  inside  the  carriage,  and  drove  the  man  all 
the  way  to  Versailles.  Changing  one's  abode  was 
a  dull  device,  because  one  only  quitted  the 
territory  of  one  legion  to  enter  that  of  another. 
Some  took  to  wearing  fancy  uniforms,  or,  more 
simply,  the  regular  uniform  of  the  legions,  but 
with  no  number  on  the  képi.  Cluseret  gave 
orders  that  any  National  Guard  who  did  not  carry 
the  number  of  his  battalion  on  his  képi  was  to  be 
arrested,  punished,  and,  if  discovered  to  be  a 
defaulter,  treated  accordingly.  He  required — 
but  in  this  he  failed — regularity  and  simplicity  of 
uniform  ;  the  enthusiastic  Federals  thought  of 
nothing  but  gold  lace,  sashes,  plumes,  trailing 
swords  ;  they  dressed  themselves  in  the  costume 
of  the  heroes  of  melodrama.     Personally,  he  set  a 


398  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

good  example,  never  wearing  during  his  term  of 
office  any  other  than  civil  attire.  He  also  tried 
to  suppress  the  private  corps,  which  afforded 
facilities  for  disguise.  The  public  offices,  and 
some  of  the  great  firms  had  armed  their  employés, 
thus  forming  independent  corps  ;  he  incor- 
porated these  with  the  regular  battalions.  He 
was  less  fortunate  with  the  innumerable  bands 
of  volunteers,  "Enfants  Perdus  de  Paris,"  "  Ber- 
geret's  scouts,"  "  the  avengers  of  Flourens," 
"the  Turcos  of  the  Commune,"  &c.,  the 
Parisians  persisting  to  the  last  in  their  mania 
for  uniforms,  their  taste  for  independence,  and 
their  attachment  to  the  heroes  of  the  boulevard 
and  the  tavern.  During  the  whole  of  the  Commune 
there  were  corps  in  course  of  formation  under  the 
most  various  and  sometimes  the  most  extravagfant 
denominations.  In  spite  of  all  these  obstacles, 
Cluseret  displayed  so  much  activity,  that  at  the 
end  of  a  few  days  he  could  place  in  line  more  than 
60,000  determined  men,  without  reckoning  a  con- 
siderable reserve. 

He  took  special  care  to  separate  the  depot 
of  the  National  Guard  from  the  marching  batta- 
lions ;  but  this  task  at  length  was  too  much  for 
him  ;  men  were  willing  enough  to  remain  in  the 
depot  on  condition  that  they  might  keep  their 
arms  and  ammunition.     Cluseret,  moreover,  was 


THE    COMMUNE.  399 

hampered  by  an  ill-arranged  commissariat,  wliich 
was  entrusted  to  inexperienced  hands  ;  by  the 
perpetual  intermeddling  of  the  Commune  and 
the  municipal  authorities,  by  innumerable  officers, 
delegates,  and  commissaries,  who  often  had  no 
other  mandate  than  their  own,  by  a  directing 
Committee  of  artillery,  acting  as  an  independent 
authority  in  its  own  sphere,  and,  above  all, 
by  the  mischievous  activity  of  the  Central 
Committee,  which  had  to  resort  to  ruses  to 
get  its  way  in  politics,  but  in  military  matters 
openly  meddled  with  everything,  and  claimed 
the  right  to  give  its  orders  to  the  officers,  and 
even  to  the  minister.  After  a  long  struggle, 
Cluseret  was  obliged  to  strike  a  bargain,  by 
which  the  Central  Committee  had  the  whole 
administration,  on  condition  that  he  was  no 
lono-er  interfered  with  in  the  details  of  his  com- 
mand.  The  Central  Committee  had  its  bureau 
at  the  Ministry  of  War,  and  it  appeared  to  be 
satisfied  with  this  arrangement,  which  gave  it  a 
large  share  of  importance;  but  nothing  was 
beneath  its  notice,  and  never  would  it  consent  to 
be  considered  only  an  administrative  machine. 

The  most  important  measure  was  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  staff  of  officers.  Cluseret,  who, 
unlike  most  of  his  colleagues,  had  served  in  the 
army,  did  not  believe  in  the  efficacy  of  electing 


400  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIEES. 

them.  He  could  not  foro^et  that  the  startino:- 
point  of  the  Insurrection  of  March  18th  was  pre- 
cisely the  assertion  of  the  pretended  right  of  the 
National  Guard  to  elect  its  own  officers,  all  its 
officers,  including  the  General-in-chief.  He  had 
said  in  his  first  proclamation  on  April  4th,  "  In 
obeying  your  elected  chiefs,  you  obey  your  own- 
selves."  He  accepted  therefore  elected  officers, 
because  he  could  not  do  otherwise;  but  he  in- 
tended accepting  them  as  little  as  possible.  On 
the  6th  April,  the  Journal  Officiel  published  the 
two  following  documents,  the  second  of  which  is 
especially  very  significant  : — 

"  Whereas  it  is  important  that  the  marching 
battalions  should,  have  at  their  head  officers  who 
shall  efficiently  command  them  ; 

"And  whereas  in  the  recent  events  a  certain 
number  of  officers  have  been  found  wanting  ; 

"  In  virtue  of  the  decree  of  April  the  4th  of  the 
Delegate  for  War  ; 

"  The  Central  Committee  resolves  : 

"  That  in  every  battalion  a  commander  shall  be 
nominated  by  the  four  war  companies,  and  he 
sliall  lead  them  into  action.  The  depot  com- 
panies shall  remain  under  his  control,  and  during 
his  absence  a  captain  unattached  shall  take  his 
place. 

"  All  commanders  shall  have  to  present  them- 


THE   COMMUNE.  401 

selves  on  Saturday  the  8tli  at  latest,  at  tlie  offices 
of  the  Central  Committee  with  their  nomination 
papers. 

"  On  and  after  Sunday,  April  the  9th,  the  service 
of  the  zones  shall  be  done  away  with. 
"  By  delegation  : 
"  Arnold,  Gaudier,  Peudhomme,  Boursier, 
Geolaed. 

"  Seen  and  approved, 

"  The  Delegate  for  War,  Cluseeet." 

Immediately  after  this  edict,  the  same  number 
of  the  Journal  Officiel  published  a  paragraph  in 
these  terms  : — 

"Whereas  under  existing  circumstances,  it  is' 
important,  particularly  in  a  military  point  of  view, 
that  superior  officers  of  recognized  ability  should 
be  at  the  head  of  the  legions  ; 

"  In  the  arrondissements  unprovided  with  such, 
the  chief  of  the  legion  shall  be  provisionally  ap- 
pointed bv  the  Delegate  for  War  with  the  sanction 
of  the  Central  Committee." 

It  was  a  rather  timid  beginning.  Cluseret 
feels  surer  on  the  26th  April.  He  publishes  a 
decisive  edict  : — 

"  War  Office. 

"  The  Minister  &c.  .  .  .  Whereas  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  battalions  of  the  National  Guard  neces- 
sitate a  special  aptitude  in  the  staff  of  the  legion, 

VOL.  I.  D  d 


402  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

"  Appoints  : 

"  The  Staff  of  tlie  legion,  composed  of — 

"  A  Chief  of  the  Staff, 

"  A  Town  Major, 

*'  Two  Staff-captains, 

"  And  four  Adjutants, 

"  Is  nominated  by  the  Delegate  for  War 
"  The  Delegate  for  War, 

*'  Cluseret." 

On  the  27th  it  is  the  artillery's  turn.  An  order 
of  the  day,  signed  by  Cluseret ,  decides  that  "  the 
nomination  of  officers  shall  be  submitted  by  the 
Central  Committee  of  Artillery  to  the  approval 
of  the  Delegate  for  War."  And  the  delegate 
adds  by  way  of  apology  :  "  These  measures  are 
taken  in  view  of  the  special  aptitude  required  for 
the  artillery  service."  In  as  far  as  the  chiefs  of 
legions  are  concerned,  he  dared  not  go  beyond  his 
edict  of  April  6th,  which  reserved  to  him  the 
right  of  directly  appointing  to  the  legions  that  had 
no  elected  chief,  but  to  those  only.  He  even  recog- 
nizes, on  the  26th,  speaking  through  Colonel 
Mayer,  that  "  the  chief  of  the  legion,  commanding 
in  chief  the  active  service,  must  be  elected  by  the 
legion,  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  the 
federation."  But  he  makes  this  declaration  re- 
luctantly, and  adds  immediately  after  :  "  This 
post   requu'es   sufficient   military    knowledge    to 


THE   COMMUNE.  403 

examine  and  appreciate  the  value  of  the  chiefs  of 
battahons,  and  an  influence  capable  of  getting  the 
orders  of  the  Delegate  for  War  executed." 

The  chiefs  of  the  legions  were  important  per- 
sons, most  of  them  members  of  the  Commune,  with 
whom  he  would  have  to  reckon.  The  difficulty 
was  still  greater  with  the  generals.  The  Com- 
mune had  at  first  abolished  the  title  of 
general,  which  did  not  prevent  a  great  number  of 
officers,  and  even  certain  chiefs  of  legions,  from 
decorating  themselves  with  it.  Cluseret  easily 
got  rid  of  LuUier.  That  "general"  had  been 
arrested  at  the  end  of  March  in  consequence  of  a 
violent  altercation  with  the  Central  Committee. 
He  had  been  kept  in  prison  for  two  days  ;  then, 
"  his  innocence  having  been  recognized,"  he  was 
set  at  liberty  and  enrolled  as  a  private  in  one  of 
the  battalions  of  the  faubourgs.  The  position  of 
a  private  in  the  Guard  not  seeming  to  him  to  be 
suitable  to  his  importance,  one  fine  day  he  took 
for  himself  the  title  of  Commander  of  the  Flotilla. 
This  command  was  not  of  long  duration.  Cluse- 
ret had  the  following  note  inserted  in  the  Journal 
O^aeZ  of  April  18th:— 

"  It  is  absolutely  false  that  Citizen  Ch.  Lullier 
has  received  any  command  whatsoever  in  the 
Flotilla. 

*'  The  Commune  cannot  give  any  command  to  the 
D  d  2 


404  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

man  by  whose  fault,  as  lie  liimself  acknowledges, 
Mont  Valerien  is  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy." 

Cluseret  could  not  so  easily  get  rid  of  Bergeret. 
Bergeret,  who  was  proud  of  his  services  on  the 
day  of  the  18th,  proud  of  his  title  of  General, 
proud  of  that  of  member  of  the  Commune,  and 
proud  of  the  function  of  Delegate  for  War,  which 
he  discharged  for  fourteen  days,  would  not  hear 
of  returning  to  the  ranks,  much  less  of  serving 
under  Cluseret,  of  whom  he  was  jealous.  The 
title  of  Commandant  of  the  Place  de  Paris  had 
been  given  to  him  as  a  sort  of  compensation.  He 
would  have  liked  to  have  directed  the  army  his 
own  way  in  this  capacity.  Cluseret  decided  that 
General  Bergeret  was  to  sign  all  orders  relating 
to  the  movements  of  troops,  "  but  only  after 
having  come  to  an  understanding  with  the  Dele- 
gate for  War."  This  edict  is  of  April  5th.  It 
did  not  please  Bergeret,  who  gained  nothing  by 
complaining.  On  the  next  day,  Cluseret  obtained 
from  the  Executive  Commission,  or  rather,  dic- 
tated to  it,  a  decree  in  these  terms  : — 

"  Whereas  the  grade  of  General  ofiScer  is  incom- 
patible with  the  democratic  organization  of  the 
National  Guard,  and  can  only  be  temporary  : 

"  Art.  1.  The  grade  of  general  officer  is 
abolished. 

"  Art.  2.  Citizen  Jaroslaus  Dombrowski,  com- 


THE    COMMUNE.  405 

manding  tlie  twelfth  legion,  is  appointed  com- 
mandant of  the  Place  de  Paris,  in  the  place  of 
Citizen  Bergeret,  called  to  other  duties." 

Citizen  Bergeret  was  finally  arrested.  He  re- 
mained several  days  in  prison,  and  was  liberated 
on  April  22nd. 

Nevertheless  Cluseret  had  laid  his  hand  on 
several  officers  of  a  certain  amount  of  merit,  such 
as  Jaroslaus  Dombrowski,  and  La  Cecilia.  Wrob- 
leski,  an  ex-forester,  lieutenant -colonel  in  the  in- 
surrection of  1863,  then  an  itinerant  musician 
through  France,  commanded  the  second  army  for 
a  little  while.  Greatly  inferior  to  Dombrowski  in 
every  respect,  he  was  hardly  remarkable  except 
for  his  bravery. 

Cluseret,  in  the  midst  of  the  inextricable  diffi- 
culties of  the  situation,  had  shown  skill  and 
energy.  The  prolongation  of  the  struggle  was 
due  to  him.  He  thought  himself  necessary,  not 
without  reason.  He  made  no  secret  of  it,  and 
treated  every  one  haughtily,  even  the  members  of 
the  Executive  Commission.  When  that  Commis- 
sion disappeared  on  the  20th  April,  and  was  re- 
placed, with  the  same  title,  by  the  Council  of 
Delegates,  Cluseret,  who  meanwhile  had  already 
been  elected  a  member  of  the  Commune  at  the 
elections  of  the  16th  April,  by  the  1st  and  18th 
arrondissements,  was  confirmed  in  his  post,   and 


406  THE   GOVERNMENT  OP  M.   THIERS. 

thus  became  a  member  of  tbe  Government  of 
the  Commune,  by  virtue  of  the  new  organization. 
He  was  tlien  at  the  apogee  of  his  fortune.  He 
had  obtained,  to  keep  his  post  of  Delegate  for  "War, 
forty-two  votes  out  of  fifty-one.  Notwithstand- 
ing all  this,  he  was  arrested  ten  days  later  by  order 
of  the  same  Executive  Commission,  of  which  he 
formed  a  part.  His  crime  was  that  he  had  not 
made  the  fort  of  Issy,  against  which  the  Versailles 
army  had  for  a  fortnight  directed  a  formidable 
artillery,  impregnable.  He  had  done  all  that  lay  in 
his  power  to  defend  it.  He  met  with  the  same 
fate  as  Raoul  du  Bisson,  Lullier,  Brunei,  and 
Bergeret  ;  the  fate  of  Rossel,  his  successor.  He 
was  imprisoned  like  the  others.  A  cry  of  treason 
was  raised  against  him.  The  following  decree 
appeared  on  the  1st  May,  at  the  head  of  the 
Journal  Officiel  : — 

*'  The  Executive  Commission 
*'  Orders  : 

"That  Citizen  Rossel  be  appointed, provisionally, 
to  the  duties  of  Delegate  for  War. 

"  Jules  Andrteux,  Paschal  Grousset,  Ed. 
Vaillant,  Cournet,  Jourde." 

The  decree  does  not  bear  Delescluze's  signature. 

These  two  paragraphs  followed  : — 

*'  Citizen  Cluseret  is  deprived  of  his  function 
of  Delegate  for  War.     His  arrest,  ordered  by  the 


THE    COMMUNE.  407 

Executive  CommissioD,  is  approved  of  by  the 
Commune." — "  A  substitute  has  been  found  pro- 
visionally for  Citizen  Cluseret  ;  the  Commune 
takes  every  precaution  necessary  for  safety." 

A  note  published  the  next  day  is  rather  more 
explicit. 

*'  The  carelessness  and  negligence  of  the  Dele- 
gate for  War  having  almost  forfeited  our  posses- 
sion of  Fort  Issy,  the  Executive  Commission  have 
thought  it  their  duty  to  propose  the  arrest  of 
Citizen  Cluseret  to  the  Commune,  which  has  been 
decreed. 

"  The  Commune,  moreover,  has  taken  every 
necessary  means  to  retain  Fort  Issy  in  its  power." 

Rosselj  whose  tragic  end  has  inspired  a  univer- 
sal interest,  on  account  of  his  youth  and  his  talent 
as  an  officer  in  his  branch  of  the  service,  was  not 
perhaps  superior  to  Cluseret  as  a  general.  His 
writings  show  that  he  might  have  been  an  author  ; 
he  was,  above  all,  a  newspaper  writer  full  of  ani- 
mation and  originality.  In  the  army  he  has  left 
the  reputation  of  being  an  intelligent  and  skilful 
officer.  His  private  life  is  without  a  stain. 
During  Cluseret's  delegation,  he  had  only  been 
employed  in  a  subordinate  office.  His  principal 
duty  at  that  time  was  to  preside  at  a*  Court-martial. 
He  discharged  it  with  a  severity  which  more  than 
once  amounted  to  cruelty.     Commandant  Giraud 


408  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP    M.    THIEES. 

of  the  74th  battalion  (Oharonne  quarter),  had 
refused  to  inarch  to  the  Maillot  Gate,  because  his 
men  had  not  eaten  any  food  for  twenty  hours  ; 
the  Court-martial,  to  make  an  example,  and  to 
make  the  Court  formidable  from  the  first,  con- 
demned him  to  death.  One  of  the  affairs  that 
made  the  most  noise  was  that  of  the  105th  bat- 
talion, which  had  mutinied  in  the  Place  Vendôme, 
and  had  refused  to  march  against  the  enemy.  It 
"was  a  battalion  which  had  formerly  had  Rossel's 
father  for  a  chief,  and  had  not  re-elected  him.  It 
was  thought  that  father  and  son  both  resented 
this.  "  Whereas,"  the  edict  said,  "  the  general 
weakness  of  the  elected  chiefs,  and  the  collective 
cowardice  of  the  soldiers  of  the  105th  battalion 
may  be  imputed  to  the  whole  of  the  battalion  .  .  . 
the  105th  shall  be  disbanded,  and  its  number 
scratched  off  the  rolls  of  the  National  Guard. 
The  officers,  non-commissioned  officers,  and  pri- 
vates of  this  battalion,  shall  be  incorporated  as 
ordinary  privates  in  the  other  battalions,  and 
deprived  of  the  right  of  voting  in  a  civil  or  military 
election,  under  penalty  of  nulhty  of  the  election." 
There  were,  moreover,  among  the  punishments  to 
be  inflicted,  sentences  of  hard  labour  for  life.  The 
Commune  itself  was  stirred  at  the  news.  A  Com- 
mission of  revision  was  appointed  by  it  to  examine 
into    the    affair   over   aorain.      The    decree   was 


THE   COMMUNE.  409 

reversed,  and  the  accused  were  sent  before  tlie 
Court-martial  of  tlie  1 6th.  Legion.  This  decision, 
arrived  at  on  the  25th  April,  is  preceded  by  a  pre- 
amble stigmatizing  E,ossel  :  "  The  Commission  of 
Revision,  considering  .  .  .  the  Court  was  only  com- 
posed of  three  regularly-appointed  members,  to 
whom  were  added  two  members  arbitrarily  chosen  ; 
the  President  of  the  said  Court  was  chief  of  the 
staff  of  the  Delegate  for  War,  who  was  plaintiff  in 
the  case  ;  in  addition,  delicacy  as  well  as  justice 
entailed  on  President  Rossel,  the  duty  of  retiring, 
on  account  of  his  being  the  son  of  the  former 
commandant  of  the  105th  battalion  .  .  .  ."  In 
spite  of  this  adventure.  President  Rossel,  five  days 
after,  became  Delegate  for  War,  owing  to  the 
support  of  Delescluze. 

Rossel  only  directed  the  war  for  ten  days,  from 
April  30th  to  May  10  th.  In  this  short  space  of 
time  he  showed  that  he  thoroughly  understood 
his  profession,  and  that  he  was  hard-working  and 
intrepid;  he  was  neither  less  proud  nor  less 
haughty  than  Cluseret.  Like  him,  and  even  more 
than  he,  he  had  to  endure  the  cooperation  of 
men  who  were  incapable,  and  the  domination  of 
civilians. 

His  first  act  of  authority  was  to  modify  the 
commands.  Between  Dombrowski  and  Wrobleski, 
the  former  commanding  the  right  wing,  the  latter 


410  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

the  left  wing  of  the  army,  lie  formed  a  command 
in  the  centre,  which  extended  from  the  Seine  to 
the  left  bank  of  the  Bièvre,  and  entrusted  it  to  La 
Cecilia.  This  was  an  excellent  move,  for  it  placed 
La  Cecilia,  who  was  a  talented  officer,  in  a  pro- 
minent position.  By  the  same  decree  he  insti- 
tuted two  reserve  brigades,  under  the  orders  of 
General  Bergeret  and  General  Eudes,  a  deplorable 
selection,  which  probably  was  forced  upon  him. 
It  may  be  said,  in  his  defence,  that  he  was  con- 
stantly hindered  by  the  Commune  and  the  Central 
Committee,  which  never  ceased  striving  among 
themselves  and  against  him.  With  the  exception 
of  a  few  former  officers,  lieutenants  or  captains, 
and  the  Poles,  like  the  two  Dombrowskis, 
Wrobleski,  Okolowitz,  and  others,  the  officers  he 
had  around  him  were  only  civilians  dressed  in  a 
uniform  with  a  profusion  of  gold  lace.  The 
greater  number  of  the  chiefs  of  legions  had  never 
served  except  in  the  National  Guard.  Among 
them  figured  Boursier,  a  wine  retailer  ;  Lisbonne, 
first  an  actor,  then  a  theatrical  manager  ;  Ranvier, 
a  decorative  artist  ;  Millière,  a  barrister  ;  and 
Jaclard,  teacher  of  mathematics.  The  history  of 
this  Jaclard,  if  it  were  told,  would  alone  show  the 
disorder  that  reigned  in  the  services  and  in  the 
minds  of  the  people.  He  had  been  the  deputy  of 
Monsieur  Clemenceau,  and  had  signed  the  first 


THE   COMMUNE.  411 

declaration  of  the  mayors.  After  tliat  lie  went 
over  to  the  insurgents,  who  made  him  chief  of  a 
legion  ;  but  he  had  a  difficulty  in  being  accepted 
in  this  new  form.  He  had  been  appointed  by  the 
Central  Committee,  and  his  nomination  had  been 
confirmed  by  the  Commune  and  the  Delegate  for 
AVar  ;  it  was  purely  and  simply  imposing  a  com- 
mander. His  soldiers  summoned  him  every  day 
to  withdraw,  in  order  to  make  room  for  an  elected 
chief.  After  a  long  resistance  he  ended  by  sub- 
mitting, and  resigned. 

"  I  have  ever  repeated,"  said  he,  "  that  being 
invested  with  a  command  by  order  of  the  Com- 
mune and  its  Delegate  for  "War,  I  was  ready  to 
withdraw  upon  an  order  to  that  effect,  emanating 
from  the  same  source. 

"  Meanwhile  I  have  remained  at  my  post,  as  it 
was  my  duty,  and  have  maintained  myself  therein. 
It  would  have  been  a  crime  of  high  treason  to 
have  abandoned  it  upon  the  summons  made  to  me 
by  any  other  person  than  the  Delegate  of  the  Com- 
mune, and  to  have  yielded  to  so  mere  an  attempt 
at  aggression  as  that  which  was  made  during 
the  night  of  the  5th  and  6th  May,  on  the  staff 
of  the  17th  Legion." 

When  Eossel  had  examinations  for  the  posts 
of  staff-officers  held,  he  inserted  in  his  decree 
the  following  sentence,  which  well  expresses  how 


412  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

hard  up  he  was  :  *'  Whereas,"  he  says,  "  military 
knowledge  and  abilities  are  very  seldom  to  be  met 
with  in  the  National  Guard,  the  actual  examina- 
tion will  refer  principally  to  intellectual  capabilities 
and  the  moral  and  political  worth  of  the  candi- 
dates." This  was  to  be  satisfied  with  a  little. 
The  chairman  of  the  jury,  to  whom  the  task 
of  selecting  the  examining  body  was  given,  was 
Arnold,  a  member  of  the  Central  Committee  and 
of  the  Commune  ;  a  man  of  thirty  years  of 
age,  an  architect,  who  had  never  served  in  the 
army,  and  who,  previous  to  September  4th,  had 
been  sub-inspector  of  works  in  Paris. 

If  the  officers  were  incapable  auxiliaries  for 
E-ossel,  the  members  of  the  Central  Committee 
were  invading  auxiliaries,  who  were  tending  to 
nothing  less  than  to  become  masters. 

The  Journal  Officiel  of  May  5th  contained  the 
following  circular  : — 

"  To  the  Generals,  Colonels,  and  Chiefs  of 
Service  connected  with  the  Delegation  for  War, 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  inform  you  that,  in  con- 
cord with  the  Committee  of  Public  Welfare  (the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  had  taken  the  place 
of  the  Executive  Commission),  I  have  admitted  in 
principle  and  T  am  going  immediately  to  put  into 
effect  the  complete  co-operation  of  the  Central 
Committee    of  the    Federation   of  the   National 


THE   COMMUNE.  413 

Guard  for  all  the  services  of  administration,  and 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  services  of  organization 
dependent  on  the  Delegation  for  War. 

"  This  separation  of  powers  may  bring  about 
changes  among  the  officials,  of  which  I  wish  to 
give  you  notice. 

"  This  agreement  has  been  made  for  the  follow- 
ing reasons  : — 

"  The  impossibility  of  raising  the  staff  of  offi- 
cials necessary  to  the  service  in  time  to  be  of 
use  ; 

"The  propriety  of  absolutely  separating  the 
administrative  department  from  the  command  ; 

"  The  necessity  of  employing  in  the  most  effica- 
cious manner,  not  only  the  good  will,  but  the  high 
revolutionary  authority  of  the  Central  Committee 
of  the  Federation. 

"  Greeting  and  fraternity." 

It  is  evident  from  this  document  that  Rossel 
puts  himself  forward  as  having  made  the  separa- 
tion between  the  services,  while  keeping  a  strong 
hold  over  them  both.  It  was  not  the  case.  The 
separation  had  been  forced  upon  him,  and  was 
complete.  The  Journal  Officiel  of  the  6th  contains 
the  following  decree  of  the  Committee  of  Public 
Welfare,  which  interdicts  most  positively  all 
interference  of  his  in  the  administrative  depart- 
ment. 


414  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

"  The  Committee  of  Public  Welfare  decrees  : 
"Art.  1.   The  Delegation  for  War  comprises 
two  divisions  : 

"  Military  direction  ; 
"  Administration. 
"  Art.    2.  Colonel  Rossel  is  charged  with  the 
initiative   and    the    direction  of  military    opera- 
tions. 

"  Art.  3.  The  Central  Committee  of  the  National 
Guard  is  charged  with  the  various  services  of  ad- 
ministration  of  the  war,  under   the    immediate 
control  of  the  Communal  Military  Commission. 
"  The  Committee  of  Public  Safety, 

"  Aemand,    Gérardin,    Felix    Pyat,    Léo 
Meillet,  Ranvier." 
This  decree  strangely  limited  Eossel's  power. 
He  was  henceforth  bnt  half  a  minister.     A  few 
days  after  came  a  fresh  degradation. 

"  Citizen  Moreau,  a  member  of  the  Central 
Committee,  is  appointed  civil  commissary  of  the 
Commune  to  the  Delegate  for  War."  Nor  did 
the  Commune  stop  there;  it  actually  placed 
commissaries  with  all  the  generals,  in  order  to 
act  more  and  more  in  conformity  with  Revolu- 
tionary traditions  and  the  practices  of  the 
Convention.  Dereure,  the  shoemaker,  was  ap- 
pointed to  control  the  operations  of  Dombrowski. 
The  Central  Committee  thus  set  up  in  possession 


THE   COMMUNE.  415 

again,  began  to  make  direct  appointments, 
without  caring  any  more  either  for  the  delegate 
or  for  the  Communal  Military  Commission.  The 
Commune,  feeling  that  if  the  Central  Committee 
were  to  become  all-powerful  over  the  National 
Guard,  its  own  power  would  be  gone,  and  perhaps, 
afraid  of  a  plot  in  which  Rossel  and  Moreau 
should  be  the  principals,  published  the  following 
decree  :  the  preamble  shows  that  it  knew  it  had 
to  deal  with  a  strong  party  : — 
"  The  Commune  of  Paris, 

"  Whereas  the  co-operation  of  the  Central 
Committee  of  the  National  Guard  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  war,  as  established  by  the  Committee 
of  Public  Welfare,  is  a  necessary  measure,  useful  to 
the  common  cause  ; 

"  Whereas,  moreover,  it  is  important  that  its 
functions  be  clearly  defined,  and,  for  this  purpose 
it  is  fitting  that  the  War  Commission  be  called  to 
define  its  functions,  in  concert  with  the  Delegate 
for  War  ; 

"  Decrees  : 

"Article  1.  The  War  Commission,  together 
with  the  Delegate  for  War,  shall  lay  down  rules 
for  the  relations  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the 
National  Guard  with  the  administration  of  the 
war." 

In  virtue  of  this  decree,  the  War  Commission 


416  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

decided  immediately  that  the  Central  Committee 
was  no  longer  to  appoint  to  any  post;  it  was 
only  left  the  right  of  proposing  candidates  to  the 
War  Commission.  Moreover,  the  Central  Com- 
mittee was  bound  to  give  an  account  each  day 
of  the  management  of  each  branch  of  the 
service. 

But  finally,  who  retained  the  authority  ?  Was 
it  the  Central  Committee,  the  Commune,  or  Rossel? 
By  whom  were  the  appointments  made  ?  Every- 
body went  his  own  way.  Rossel  being  the  most 
firm  was  the  best  obeyed,  and  even  he  was  no 
longer  able  to  rely  on  obedience,  as  may  be  seen 
by  the  numerous  instances  in  which  he  dismissed 
his  officers  for  having  addressed  themselves 
directly  to  the  Central  Committee,  or  to  the  Com- 
mission. The  National  Guard  was  composed  of 
legions,  commanded,  some  by  the  elected  colonels, 
others  by  officers  bestowed  upon  them  by  the 
Central  Committee,  a  perfectly  absurd  organiza- 
tion. Eossel  took  a  decided  step.  In  each 
legion  there  were  marching  battalions  and 
stationary  battalions  ;  he  took  marching  battalions, 
formed  them  into  regiments,  and  appointed  their 
commanders.  This  radical  measure  did  not  pass 
without  raising  a  storm.  He  explained  that  he 
preserved  the  legion  as  an  administrative  centre, 
but  that  he  wished  to  create  a  radical  unity.     This 


THE   COMMUNE.  417 

answer  was  indisputable.  We  may  judge  of  tlie 
difference  there  was  between  the  legions  by  two 
figures.  Several  legions  did  not  attain  the  figure 
of  2000  men,  the  Popencoirt  legion  (11th)  num- 
bered 22,000.  Rossel  endeavoured  to  repair 
this  inequality,  by  the  creation  of  the  regiments, 
and  to  diminish  the  authority  of  the  elected  com- 
manders, being  unable  to  destroy  it.  He  wanted 
to  limit  the  commanders  to  holding  parades  and 
making  entries;  but  his  reforms  did  not  stop 
here.  He  was  pitiless  towards  defaulters,  and 
this  was  both  iniquitous  and  imprudent.  It  was 
Rossel  who  devised  the  system  of  cards  of  iden- 
tity. Every  citizen  was  bound  to  exhibit  his  card 
of  identity  on  being  required  to  do  so  by  a 
magistrate  or  an  ofiScer  of  the  National  Guard. 
These  cards  were  distributed  at  a  bureau  in  each 
quarter.  Citizens  who  could  not  prove  by  the 
evidence  of  their  cards  that  they  belonged  to  the 
regular  service  of  the  National  Guard,  were  im- 
mediately incorporated  into  the  battalion  of  their 
quarter.  The  Commune  hesitated  at  first  to  vote 
such  a  decree  ;  and  contented  itself  with  prescrib- 
ing measures  for  the  discovery  and  punishment  of 
defaulters.  In  the  end  the  card  of  identity  was 
exacted.  The  honour  of  having  invented  this 
novel  kind  of  persecution  belongs  incontestably 
to  Rossel.  To  show  that  the  most  ardent  revo- 
VOL.  I.  E  e 


418  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

lutionists  had  no  riglifc  to  accuse  him  of  weakness 
or  of  "  moderatism,"  it  will  suffice  to  quote  the 
following  order  of  the  day  issued  by  him  : — 

"  It  is  forbidden  to  cease  firing  during  an 
engagement,  even  should  the  enemy  raise  their 
muskets  or  hoist  a  flag  of  truce. 

"  It  is  forbidden,  under  pain  of  death,  to  go  on 
firing  after  the  order  to  cease  firing  has  been 
given,  or  to  continue  to  advance  after  the  order 
to  halt  has  been  given.  Fugitives,  and  those  who 
lag  behind  their  comrades,  will  be  sabred  by  the 
cavalry  ;  if  they  are  numerous,  they  will  be  fired 
upon  by  the  artillery.  The  military  chiefs  have 
full  authority  to  force  other  officers  and  soldiers 
under  their  command  to  march  and  obey  during 
an  engagement." 

These  declarations  were  by  no  means  to  be  re- 
garded as  empty  threats.  The  President  of  the 
Court-martial  had  proved  that  it  was  not  in  words 
only  he  was  pitiless. 

At  the  sitting  of  the  28th  April,  two  days  before 
the  fall  of  Cluseret,  Billioray  said,  "  We  do  not 
want  a  dictatorship  at  the  War  Office.  In  that 
portion  of  the  public  service  the  Commune  is 
mocked  ;  its  decisions  are  utterly  disregarded. 
The  war  administration  is  the  organization  of 
disorganization."  The  phrase  was  harsh,  but  it 
was  just;  and  it  was  as  just  under  the  rule  of 


THE   COMMUNE.  419 

Rossel  as  under  that  of  Cluseret.  The  disorder 
was  not  to  be  imputed  to  only  one  or  the 
other.  It  was  everywhere  ;  it  grew  out  of  the 
situation  itself.  The  Commune  had  found  no 
precision,  no  fixity  in  anything.  At  the  end  of 
six  weeks  it  did  not  know  why  it  was,  nor  what 
it  was.  Eossel  was  superintended  by  Moreau,  the 
civil  delegate  to  the  War  Office,  by  the  Com- 
munal Military  Commission,  by  the  Commune 
itself,  and  by  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Federa- 
tion. Under  his  orders  were  generals  and  colonels, 
members  of  the  Commune.  Eudes  even  was  a 
member  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Welfare  in 
the  organization  of  the  8th  May.  The  Communal 
Commission,  the  Committee  of  the  Federation,  the 
Central  Committee  of  Artillery,  the  Majors,  the 
Municipalities,  the  Committees  and  Sub-committees 
of  arrondissements,  disputed  his  authority  step  by 
step.  The  Government  changed  every  day,  and 
each  government  was  more  incapable,  more  in- 
terfering, and  more  odious  than  the  preceding. 
The  list  of  the  commandants  of  Fort  Issy  will 
suffice  to  explain  the  military  situation  of  the 
Commune.  The  fort  was  commanded  first  by 
Mégy,  then  by  Larroque,  Colonel  of  the  staff.  At 
the  beginning  of  May  the  Commune  sent  Dom- 
browski  thither  ;  the  Central  Committee,  on  its 
side,  sent  Wrobleski.      Rossel,   who   would   not 

E  e  2 


420  THE    GOVEENMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

submit  to  these  encroachments,  sent  each  of  them 
off  to  his  head-quarters,  and  placed  Eudes  in 
command  of  the  fortress.  This  was  an  unwise 
proceeding,  for  Eudes  no  sooner  understood  the 
nature  of  his  charge  than  he  returned  to  Paris, 
leaving  it  to  Collet,  the  chief  of  his  staff.  Rossel 
went  several  times  in  person  to  Issy.  He  even 
intended  for  a  while  to  resume  the  offensive  there, 
for  which  he  required  12,000  men,  who  had  been 
promised  him.  He  waited  for  them  in  vain, 
and  at  length,  on  his  pressing  demand,  7000 
were  sent.  This  was  not  at  all  the  same  tliinsf. 
Everything  was  going  wrong,  which  was  just 
what  Rossel  ought  to  have  expected.  It  is 
strange  that  with  his  military  knowledge  he 
should  have  taken  a  hand  in  a  game  of  this  kind. 
Had  he  reckoned  upon  a  general  rising  of  the 
great  towns  ?  or  upon  the  defection  of  the  army  ? 
He  had  been  at  all  events  persuaded  that  his 
authority  would  not  be  impeded,  or  that  his  own 
energy  would  overcome  resistance.  He  had 
always  despised  the  Commune.  His  plan  was  to 
annul  it,  by  means  of  the  Central  Committee, 
with  the  co-operation  of  two  or  three  men  of 
action,  who  failed  him  in  the  end.  He  isolated 
himself  more  and  more  during  the  last  days,  like 
a  man  whose  part  is  played  out,  and  who  desires 
to  fall  with  dignity.  He  did  not  even  send  in 
any  more  reports.     At  the  sitting  of  the  8th  May, 


THE    COMMUNE.  421 

Miot  complains  that  tlie  Commune  has  not  received 
an  J  mihtary  report  for  three  days.  Citizen 
Bereure :  "We  have  not  had  a  report  for  eight 
days."  The  Citizen  President  (that  day  General 
Eudes)  :  "  Do  you  wish  to  send  two  members  to 
the  Committee  of  Public  Welfare  ?  "  Citizen 
Bégere  :  "  What  for  ?  The  Committee  is  like  our- 
selves :  it  has  received  nothing." 

The  war  news  which  Rossel  could  have  given 
was  not  of  a  nature  to  bring  much  comfort  to  the 
Commune.  The  "  Versaillais  "  were  advancing 
each  day  ;  to  Neuilly,  to  Auteuil  :  they  rained 
fire  on  the  ramparts.  Fort  Issy,  which  had  been 
as  good  as  lost  to  the  insurrection  since  the  end 
of  April,  and  whose  desperate  position  had  occa- 
sioned the  fall  of  Cluseret,  prolonged  its  resistance 
for  a  few  days,  but  no  men  of  sense  could  any 
longer  deceive  themselves.  Both  sides  were  losing 
their  men  ;  it  would  have  been  better  to  make  an 
end  of  it. 

'  On  the  day  on  which  Rossel  took  possession  of 
the  War  Office,  the  officer  commanding  in  the 
trenches  addressed  the  following  summons  to 
the  Commandant  of  Fort  Issy  : — 

"  In  the  name  and  by  order  of  the  Marshal, 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army,  we,  Staff- 
Colonel  Leperche,  summon  the  Commandant  of  the 
insurgents,  assembled  at  present  in  Fort  Issy,  to 
surrender  himself  and  all  the  persons  in  the  fort. 


422       TEE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M..  THIERS. 

"  A  delay  of  one  quarter  of  an  hour  is  granted 
for  replying  to  tliis  summons. 

"  If  the  Commandant  of  the  insurgent  forces 
declares,  in  writing,  in  his  own  name  and  in  the 
name  of  the  entire  garrison  of  Fort  Issy,  that  he 
surrenders  to  the  present  summons,  without  any 
other  condition  than  that  of  obtaining  safety  to 
life,  and  liberty,  less  the  authorization  to  reside 
in  Paris,  that  favour  shall  be  granted. 

"  Unless  he  replies  within  above  indicated  time, 
all  the  garrison  will  be  shot. 

"  Trenches  before  Fort  Issy,  April  30,  1871.'* 

Colonel  Rossel  replied  on  the  following  day  : — 
"  Mï  DEAR  Comrade, 

"  The  next  time  that  you  permit  yourseif 
to  send  us  so  insolent  a  summons  as  your  auto- 
graph  letter   of   yesterday,    I    shall    have    your 
envoy  shot,  in  conformity  with  the  usages  of  war. 
"  y  OUI'  devoted  comrade, 

*'  RoSSEL, 

**  Delegate  of  the  Commune  of  Paris." 
The  Commune,  delighted  with  this  bit  of  brag, 
applauded  Rossel' s  answer,  and  paid  hardly  any 
attention  to  the  summons  of  Colonel  Leperche, 
which  clearly  announced  defeat.  Some  days  were 
still  required  for  the  taking  of  the  fort.  The 
Château  was  taken  by  Faron's  division  on  the 
night  of  the  1st  May.  The  Clamart  railway 
station  was  taken  on  the  5th.     On  the  9th  the 


THE   COMMUNE.  423 

38th  regiment  of  the  line  entered  the  fort,  which 
was  evacuated,  but  still  contained  all  its  material. 

On  the  9th  May,  at  noon,  Rossel  sent  the 
following  despatch  : — 

*'  The  tricolour  flag  is  floating  on  Fort  Issy, 
which  was  abandoned  last  night  by  the  gar- 
rison." 

He  had  the  despatch  immediately  posted  every- 
where. With  what  object  ?  More  could  not  have 
been  done  had  it  been  a  victory. 

On  that  day  Delescluze  interrupted  the  sitting 
of  the  Commune  with  these  words  :  "  You  are 
disputing  while  it  has  just  been  placarded  that 
the  tricolour  flag  is  floating  from  Fort  Issy. 
Citizens,  we  must  consult  without  delay.  I  have 
seen  Rossel  this  morning;  he  has  sent  in  his 
resignation,  and  is  quite  resolved  not  to  recall 
it. 

"  All  his  actions  are  hampered  by  the  Central 
Committee.  He  is  worn  out.  I  have  witnessed 
his  despair." 

Rossel  wrote  the  following  letter,  which  deserves 
to  be  preserved  : — 

"Paris,  9th  May,  1871. 
"  Citizen  Mem  bee  of  the  Commune, 

"  Charged  by  you  by  a  provisional  title 
with  the  War  delegation,  I  feel  myself  unable  any 
longer  to  bear  the  responsibility  of  a  command 
which  everybody  disowns  and  nobody  obeys. 


424  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THTEES. 

"  Wlien  it  was  necessary  to  organize  the  artil- 
lery, the  Central  Committee  of  Artillery  delibe- 
rated, and  prescribed  nothing.  After  two  months 
of  revolution,  the  entire  service  of  our  guns  de- 
pends upon  an  insufficient  number  of  volunteers. 

"  When  I  took  office,  desiring  to  advance  the 
concentration  of  arms,  the  requisition  of  horses, 
and  the  pursuit  of  defaulters,  I  requested  the 
Commune  to  increase  the  municipal  officers  in 
the  arrondissements. 

*'  The  Commune  deliberated,  and  came  to  no 
resolution. 

"  Afterwards,  the  Central  Committee  of  the 
Federation  came  to  offer  me,  almost  imperiously, 
its  co-operation  in  the  administration  of  the  war. 
Consulted  by  the  Committee  of  Public  Welfare,  I 
accepted  this  co-operation  in  the  most  distinct 
manner,  and  I  imparted  all  the  information  which 
I  possessed  on  the  subject  of  organization  to  the 
members  of  that  Committee.  From  that  time  to 
the  present  the  Central  Committee  has  been  de- 
liberating, and  has  not  yet  acted.  During  this 
period  the  enemy  directed  against  Fort  Issy  a 
number  of  adventurous  attacks,  so  imprudent  that 
if  I  had  had  the  smallest  disposable  military  force, 
I  could  have  punished  them. 

"  The  garrison,  ill-commanded,  got  frightened, 
and  the  officers  deliberated,  drove  out  of  the  fort 


THE   COMMUNE.  425 

Captain  Dumont,  an  energetic  man  who  came  to 
command  tbem,  and,  still  deliberating,  evacuated 
their  fort,  after  having  talked  nonsense  about 
blowing  it  up,  which  was  more  impossible  for 
them  than  to  defend  it. 

"  This  was  not  enough.  Yesterday,  while  each 
man  was  either  working  or  under  fire,  the  majors 
were  deliberating  upon  the  substitution  of  a  new 
system  of  organization  for  that  which  I  had 
adopted,  in  order  to  make  up  for  the  shortcomings 
of  their  authority,  always  fickle  and  ill-obeyed. 
Their  secret  council  produced  a  project  at  the 
moment  when  we  wanted  men,  and  a  declaration 
of  principles  when  we  wanted  actions. 

"  My  indignation  recalled  them  to  other  ideas, 
and  they  promised  me  for  to-day,  as  the  extreme 
limit  of  their  efforts,  an  organized  force  of  12,000 
men,  with  whom  I  undertook  to  march  on  the 
enemy.  The  men  were  to  be  mustered  at  half- 
past  eleven.  It  is  one  o'clock  and  they  are  not 
ready.  Instead  of  12,000  there  are  about  7000. 
This  is  not  at  all  the  same  thing. 

"  Thus,  the  uselessness  of  the  Artillery  Com- 
mittee prevented  the  organization  of  the  Artillery; 
the  uncertainties  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the 
Federation  stopped  the  administration  ;  the  trifling 
fidgetiness  of  the  majors  paralyzed  the  mobilisa- 
tion of  the  troops. 


426      THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

'*  I  am  not  a  man  to  recoil  from  repression,  and 
yesterday,  while  tlie  majors  were  deliberating,  a 
firing-party  was  waiting  for  them  in  the  court. 
But  I  do  not  choose  to  take  the  initiative,  all 
alone,  of  serious  measures  ;  to  endorse,  all  alone, 
the  executions  which  would  be  necessary,  if,  out 
of  this  chaos,  organization,  victory,  and  obedience, 
are  to  be  extracted.  Again,  if  I  were  protected 
by  the  publicity  of  my  actions,  and  of  my  power- 
lessness,  I  might  continue  to  fill  my  present  post. 
But  the  Commune  has  not  courage  enough  to  face 
publicity.  Twice  already  I  have  given  you  the 
necessary  information,  and  twice,  in  spite  of  me, 
you  have  persisted  in  having  the  Committee  a 
secret  one. 

"  My  predecessor  committed  the  fault  of  con- 
tending: with  this  absurd  situation. 

*'  Enlightened  by  his  example,  knowing  that  the 
strength  of  a  revolutionist  consists  only  in  the 
precision  of  his  position,  I  have  to  choose  between 
two  courses  of  action;  I  must  either  crush  the 
obstacle  which  hampers  my  action,  or  withdraw 
myself.  I  will  not  crush  the  obstacle,  for  the 
obstacle  is  you  and  your  weakness  ;  I  will  make 
no  attempt  against  the  public  sovereignty. 

"  I  withdraw  myself,  and  I  have  the  honour  to 
demand  a  cell  at  Mazas. 

"  EOSSEL." 


THE   COMMUNE.  427 

This  long  letter  is  a  newspaper  article,  well 
written  and  a  little  declamatory.  It  contains  one 
atrocious  sentence  :  "  A  firing-party  was  waiting 
in  the  courtyard."  To  have  done  this  was  the 
act  of  a  criminal  ;  to  boast  of  it,  was  not  that  of 
a  politic  man.  He  may  have  done  it.  It  was  he 
who  had  the  defaulters  of  the  19th  arrondisse- 
ment placed  in  the  ditches  of  Fort  Yanvres  while 
the  bombardment  à  outrance  was  going  on. 

He  desired  to  be,  and  was,  arrested. 

The  Commune,  formed  into  a  secret  com- 
mittee, renewed  its  Committee  of  Public  Welfare, 
in  whose  hands  it  placed  itself  to  a  certain  extent, 
by  deciding  that  it  would  meet  only  three  times  a 
week,  and  replaced  Eossel  by  a  civil  delegate. 
This  was  Delescluze. 

The  Commune  thus  assumed  the  direction  of 
the  war.  This  was  the  last  of  the  blunders  which 
it  had  been  making  incessantly  from  the  day  of 
its  installation. 

What  was  this  Commune,  which,  at  the  supreme 
hour,  undertook  the  responsibility  of  the  military 
operations  in  addition  to  so  many  others  ?  What 
were  its  raison-d'' être  and  its  object  ? 

Paris  had  its  grievances,  well-founded  or  not, 
against  the  Government  and  the  Assembly  ;  this 
was,  perhaps,  enough  to  explain  a  rising  ;  but  to 
found  a  government,  an  idea  is  needed.     We  shall 


428  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP   M.   THIERS. 

searcli  in  vain  for  tliat  of  tlie  Commune,  in  its 
declarations  and  its  history. 

We  see  wliat  it  was  tliat  tlie  Commune  wanted 
to  overturn  ;  it  was  the  Government  and  existing 
social  order.  We  do  not  see  what  the  Commune 
wanted  to  found. 

When  it  was  the  interest  of  its  members  to 
make  it  out  of  small  importance,  they  declared 
that  the  Commune  was  only  a  municipal  assembly, 
that  it  demanded  nothing  but  the  franchises  of 
Paris  ;  and  intended  only  to  overthrow  and  re- 
place tbe  Government.  In  reality  it  made  itself  a 
government,  complete,  having  its  ministers,  its 
finances,  its  army,  and  its  flag.  These  are  tbe 
terms  in  which  it  proscribed  the  national  standard, 
which  it  had  replaced  by  the  red  flag  : — 

"  The  citizens  will  cause  the  tricolour  flag,  which, 
after  having  been  that  of  the  Revolution,  has 
become  the  tainted  banner  of  the  assassins  of  Ver- 
sailles, to  disappear  with  the  least  possible  delay." 
Not  only  did  the  Commune  want  to  be  a  state 
in  a  state  ;  it  wanted  to  be  the  capital,  or,  to 
speak  more  precisely,  the  sovereign  of  a  federation 
of  Communes.  This  is  proved  by  the  address  of 
Paschal  Grousset  "  to  the  great  towns  ;  "  by  the 
despatch  of  delegates,  and  even  generals,  to  the 
provinces  ;  by  the  proclamation  of  the  Commune 
at  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Creuzot,  Toulouse.    A  federa- 


THE   COMMUNE.  429 

tion  of  Communes  !  The  United  States  and 
Switzerland  are  federations  of  states.  The  Com- 
mune did  not  know  the  meaning  of  a  commune, 
or  the  meaning  of  a  federation  ;  it  did  not  know 
in  what  national  unity  consists,  nor  what  is  the 
use  of  it.  It  made  a  revolution  with  one  word 
and  one  hatred. 

Hatred  of  the  bourgeoisie.  "  The  Eevolution  of 
the  18th  March  was  made  exclusively  by  the 
workmen,"  said  Frankel.  The  Commune  said  the 
same,  frankly,  loudly,  from  the  first  day.  "  I  am 
the  advent  of  the  proletariat."  The  advent  to 
what  ?  To  equality  ?  No  ;  equality  already  ex- 
isted. To  domination  ?  Undoubtedly,  that  is 
what  calls  itself  equality,  in  socialistic  speech. 
"  The  bourgeoisie  have  had  their  day  ;  we  replace 
them,  as,  in  1789,  they  replaced  the  nobility." 
Nobility  is  a  privilege;  it  is  overthrown  and 
replaced.  But  what  is  the  bourgeoisie  ?  A  bour- 
geois is  simply  a  citizen  who  is  educated,  and  who 
possesses.  The  bourgeoisie  is  not  overthrown, 
one  arrives  at  it.  Or  if,  on  the  contrary,  it  be 
overthrown,  the  two  parents  of  civilization,  pro- 
perty, and  the  domestic  hearth,  are  suppressed 
with  it.  The  Commune  would  not  have  failed  to 
do  this  ;  in  all  its  actions,  disdain  of  the  family 
is  evident.  It  had  neither  system  nor  principle  ; 
this  it  is  which  made  it  destroy  without  founding, 


430  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

and  attack,  without  strengtli  or  skill,  incoherently 
and  contradictorily.  The  few  acts  which  it  passed 
exhibit  at  once  the  existence  of  resentment  and 
the  absence  of  doctrine. 

The  Commercial  Bills  and  House-rents  Acts, 
which  were  merely  occasional,  if  one  will,  never- 
theless exhibit  this  double  character.  It  is  cer- 
tainly socialism,  and  socialism  in  the  condition  of 
an  expedient. 

The  Commercial  Bills  Act  gives  the  debtors  an 
extension  of  three  years,  from  15th  July,  1871, 
and  without  interest  during  those  three  years. 
The  House-rents  Act  makes  a  present  of  three  terms 
to  the  tenants,  even  to  those  occupying  furnished 
houses  ;  it  gives  them  the  exclusive  right  to 
extend  their  leases  for  a  period  of  six  months, 
and  prorogues  the  notices  given  by  proprietors 
for  three  months. 

The  Commune  was  not  satisfied  with  restoring 
gratuitously  all  the  objects  pledged  at  the  Mont 
de  Piété,  for  a  sum  not  exceeding  twenty  francs 
(these  amounted  to  more  than  800,000  articles), 
it  announced  its  intention  of  liquidating  the  Mont 
de  Piété,  and  replacing  it  by  a  communal  institu- 
tion of  "  credit  to  labour,"  of  which  no  one  in  the 
Assembly  formed  a  precise  idea.  This  is  plain  on 
reading  the  discussion. 

The  Commune  intervened  in  private  arrange- 


THE   COMMUNE.  431 

ments.  Proprietors  could  not  give  their  tenants 
notice  to  leave  while  the  siege  lasted.  It  disposed 
of  private  interests  ;  the  workshops  purchased  by 
the  masters  were  to  be  open,  and  to  be  managed 
by  the  former  workmen  formed  into  a  syndicate. 
It  laid  down  rules  for  the  employment  of  time, 
night  work  was  forbidden  to  bakers  ;  and  for  the 
relations  between  workmen  and  masters,  masters 
could  not  impose  fines,  nor  keep  back  wages.  On 
every  occasion  it  was  hostile  to  the  masters  ;  in 
contracts  with  the  State  or  the  Commune,  co- 
operative associations  would  have  the  preference. 
It  deprived  all  ministerial  officials  who  had  not 
assented  to  the  Revolution  of  the  18tli  March  of 
their  posts,  without  compensation,  and  afterwards 
transformed  the  clerks  and  small  employés  into 
functionaries  appointed  by  the  Government. 

A  few  days  before  the  general  rout,  Grelier 
published  in  the  Officiel  an  intimation  in  three 
lines  that  the  title-deeds  of  the  Versaillais  should 
be  burned. 

"  The  inhabitants  of  Paris  are  required  to  re- 
turn to  their  domiciles  within  forty-eight  hours  ; 
after  which  delay  their  title-deeds  '  will  be 
burned. 

"  For  the  Central  Committee, 

"  Geêliee." 
*  "  Titres  de  rente  grand  livre." 


432  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

What  imprudence  !  Jourde  declared  lie  would 
retire,  if  the  action  of  Grelier  were  not  repudiated 
and  punished.  Several  members  shared  his  in- 
dignation. One  only  betrayed  the  secret  of  this 
farce.  *'  No  doubt  it  ought  to  be  done  ;  but  it  is 
imprudent  to  say  so  at  present."  After  all  this, 
Grelier  was  not  the  first  comer.  Before  the  26th 
March  he  had  been  the  "  Delegate  of  the  Interior  " 
of  the  Central  Committee.  It  was  well  known 
in  the  Commune,  that  Grelier  had  acted  by  order 
of  the  Committee  ;  though  this  was  not  openly 
said,  the  Committee  being  the  real  master.  A 
member  ventured  to  say,  "  Grelier  must  be  pun- 
ished, and  his  accomplices.''^  The  phrase  seemed 
imprudent,  and  was  hushed  up. 

There  were  also  decisions,  and  especially  pro- 
posals, which  touched  family  institutions. 

It  was  resolved  that  concubines  should  be 
placed  on  the  same  footing  as  legitimate  wives, 
with  regard  to  the  indemnity  allotted  to  the  wives 
of  National  Guards. 

Citizen  Vesinier  made  the  following  proposal  at 
the  sitting  of  the  17tli  May;  there  was  not  time 
to  discuss  it  : — 

"The  Act  of  8th  May,  1861,  is  recalled;  the 
Decree  of  21st  March,  1803,  promulgated  on  the 
31st  of  the  same  month,  is  put  in  force  again." 
(This  was  the  re-establishment  of  divorce.) 


THE    COMMUNE.  433 

"  All  children,  called  natural,  non-recognized, 
are  recognized  by  the  Commune,  and  legitimized. 

"All  male  citizens  eighteen  years  of  age,  and 
all  female  citizens  sixteen  years  of  age,  who  shall 
declare  before  the  municipal  magistrate  that  they 
desire  to  be  united  in  the  bonds  of  marriage,  shall 
be  so  united,  provided  only  that  they  shall  also 
declare  that  they  are  not  already  married,  nor 
related  within  the  degrees  which  are  in  the  eyes 
of  the  law  an  impediment  to  marriage. 

"  They  are  dispensed  from  all  other  legal  for- 
malities. 

"  Their  children,  if  they  have  any,  shall,  on 
their  simple  declaration,  be  recognized  as  legiti- 
mate." 

If  this  proposal  had  been  put  under  dis- 
cussion, no  one  can  tell  what  might  have  hap- 
pened. The  skill  of  the  great  politicians  among 
them  consisted  in  putting  aside  discussions  of  this 
kind,  in  reserving  them  for  that  happy  time  when 
the  Commune  of  Paris  should  dictate  its  laws  to 
France  in  peace. 

The  socialism  of  the  Commune  was  not  much 
wiser  than  its  politics,  and  its  politics  were  about 
on  a  par  with  its  military  tactics.  The  name  of 
the  Commune  had  been  taken  out  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, as  the  red  flag  had  been  taken,  and  with  this 
name,  under  that  banner,  it  dared  fortune. 

VOL.  I.  F   f 


434  THE    GOVEENMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

The  tragedy,  wliicli  cost  so  mucli  blood,  and 
narrowly  escaped  destroying  France,  began,  like  a 
melodrama,  with  crackers  and  masquerades.  A 
soldier  is  not  made  with  a  plume,  nor  a  legislator 
with  a  sash.  Never  was  there  beheld  such  con- 
fusion, ignorance,  uncertainty,  presumption,  and 
contradiction. 

During  the  siege,  after  the  capitulation,  on  the 
morrow  of  the  18th  March,  since  the  incoming  of 
the  Commune,  the  outcry  against  the  Prussians 
had  been  incessant.  But  one  Frankel,  a  non- 
nationahzed  Prussian,  was  a  member  of  the 
Commune,  and  was  even  made  one  of  its  ministers. 
The  Commune  exempted  Alsace-Lorrainers,  and 
them  only,  from  military  service;  it  made  advances 
to  the  Prussian  generals,  and  its  first  utterance 
was  a  declaration  that  it  would  scrupulously 
observe  the  treaty  with  Prussia.  Paschal  Grous- 
set,  "  Delegate  to  Exterior  Relations,"  addressed 
a  letter  (which  remained  unanswered)  to  the 
Commandant-in-chief  of  the  3rd  corps  of  the 
German  arra}^  in  the  following  terms  : — 
*'  General, 

"  The  undersigned  Member  of  the  Commune 
of  Paris,  Delegate  to  External  Relations,  has  the 
honour  to  submit  tlie  following  observations  to 
you. 

"  The  city  of  Paris,  bound  by  the  same  title  as 


THE    COMMUNE.  435 

all  the  parts  of  the  French  Republic,  by  the  pre- 
liminaries of  peace  signed  at  Versailles,  is  in 
duty  bound  to  know  how  that  treaty  is  carried  out. 

"It  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  Paris  to 
know  in  particular  whether  the  Government  of 
Versailles  has  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  German 
plenipotentiary  a  first  instalment  of  500,000,000 
francs  or  any  other  sum,  on  account  of  the 
stipulated  indemnity,  and  whether,  as  a  result  of 
this  payment,  the  chiefs  of  the  German  army  have 
fixed  the  date  for  the  evacuation  by  their  troops  of 
the  forts  on  the  right  bank,  which  forms  an  inse- 
parable and  integral  part  of  the  territory  of  Paris. 

"  The  undersigned  requests  you.  General,  to 
communicate  to  him  the  information  you  possess 
on  this  subject." 

It  had  been  asserted  during  the  siege  of  the  city 
by  the  Prussians  that  a  "  torrential  "  sortie  of  the 
entire  people  would  suffice  to  set  Paris  free. 
This  was  an  infallible  method,  and  it  was  resorted 
to  against  the  French  army  on  the  memorable 
3rd  April.  From  the  following  day  Cluseret 
stated  that  the  war  should  henceforth  be  purely 
defensive  ;  the  people  submitted,  and  preferred  to 
remain  merely  besieged  until  the  end. 

The  first  "  revendication  "  had  been  for  the 
Communal  franchise,  and  for  the  right  attributed 
to  itself  by  the  National  Guard  of  electing  its  own 

F  f  2 


436  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

chiefs.  No  more  imposed  mayors  !  no  more  non- 
elected  oflScers  !  The  Commune  was  hardly  in- 
stalled before  it  imposed  generals  upon  the 
National  Guard,  and  municipal  officers  upon 
the  arrondissements. 

It  may  safely  be  said  that  the  Commune  imposed 
itself  upon  Paris  on  the  28th  of  March.  Not- 
withstanding the  co-operation  of  the  former 
mayors,  the  abstentions  were  64  in  100,  and 
on  the  16th  April,  when  the  Commune  had 
shown  what  it  was  made  of,  and  found  itself 
reduced  to  itself,  the  abstentions  were  80  in  100. 
(Voters,  53,679;  abstainers,  205,173.)  It  was 
decided,  too  late,  that  an  eighth  of  the  electors 
would  no  longer  be  necessary  to  render  an  election 
vahd.  The  election  was  made  by  1000  votes. 
"  To  confirm  these  elections,"  said  Arthur 
Arnould,  "  is  the  dirtiest  trick  ever  played  on 
universal  suffrage  by  a  government.  You  are 
becoming  ridiculous,  odious." 

One  of  the  former  grievances  was  the  sup- 
pression of  six  newspapers  by  General  Vinoy. 
The  Central  Committee  allowed  two  to  be  sup- 
pressed on  18th  March.  The  Commune  suppressed 
four  on  18th  April,  and  on  the  18th  May,  ten.  If 
Vermorel  is  to  be  believed,  Felix  Pyat  proposed 
these  measures,  which  he  afterwards  censured  in 
his  own  paper,  a  detail  of  but  slight  interest.    The 


THE    COMMUNE.  437 

Kberty  of  the  press,  however,  found  defenders, 
even  amongst  the  ranks  of  the  insurgents. 
Whole  battalions  wrote  to  the  Commune  to  pro- 
test. 

Another  grievance  anterior  to  the  18th  March 
was  the  arrest  of  Piazza  and  Brunei,  and  the 
condemnation  of  Blanqui  and  Flourens.  The 
Insurrection,  faithful  to  its  former  demands, 
abolished  Courts  Martial.  "  They  owed  that  to 
their  brothers  of  the  army."  They  burned  the 
guillotine  in  front  of  the  statue  of  Voltaire. 
*'The  Committee  of  the  11th  arrondissement  has 
caused  that  servile  weapon  of  tyrannic  power  to 
be  seized,  and  has  voted  its  final  destruction." 
But  the  Commune  imprisoned  Lullier,  Du  Bisson, 
Bergeret,  Brunei,  Cluseret,  and  Rossel.  Raoul 
Rigault  was  allowed  to  fill  the  prisons  ;  he  went 
with  Ferré  to  pass  his  evenings  at  the  Folies 
Dramatiques,  and  made  his  lists  between  the  acts. 
To  the  mayors  and  their  colleagues,  to  the  mem- 
bers of  sub-committees  of  the  arrondissements,  to 
officers,  sub-officers,  and  delegates  of  companies, 
was  given  the  power  to  arrest  defaulters  in 
the  streets,  and  to  search  houses  for  them. 
The  house-porters  were  bound  to  denounce  such 
persons  under  pain  of  imprisonment.  The  Com- 
mune hesitated  to  vote  the  measure  of  tickets  of 
identity  which  was  demanded  by  Rossel,  but  it  was 


438  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIEES. 

voted,  nevertheless,  after  Kossel's  fall.  Every 
citizen  from  nineteen  to  forty  years  of  age  was 
obliged  to  produce  liis  ticket  of  identity  at  any 
moment,  and  to  any  inquirer. 

A  mere  National  Guard,  non-commsisioned  (and 
everybody  was  a  National  Guard),  might  demand 
the  production  of  your  ticket,  and  if  it  were 
not  forthcoming,  take  you  to  prison  as  "  sus- 
pect." 

To  prison — everybody  went  there,  and  every- 
body sent  there.  All  the  generals  of  the  Com- 
mune were  incarcerated  one  after  the  other; 
Bergeret,  imprisoned  at  Mazas,  wrote  on  the 
walls  of  his  cell,  "  Cluseret,  I  expect  you  here 
next  week."  The  prediction  was  soon  fulfilled. 
Chanzy,  Langoriau,  Turquet,  tried  Republicans, 
were  arrested  ;  patriots  like  Schcelcher,  the  very 
authors  of  the  Revolution  of  the  18th  March 
themselves  ;  for  instance,  Assi. 

A  perpetual  round  of  arrests  and  liberations 
went  on.  On  a  day  when  Dombrowski  had 
distinguished  himself  in  an  engagement,  in  which 
he  had  the  advantage  of  the  Versaillais,  he  was 
arrested  on  the  way  to  head-quarters  by  a  drunken 
National  Guard,  and  conducted  to  the  guard- 
house, where  he  remained  some  hours.  From 
March  18th  to  the  27th  May  there  were  3G32 
committals,  and  this  number  included  men  only. 


THE    COMMUNE.  439 

The  Commune,  wliicli  had  abolished  Courts 
Martial  with  much  pomp,  afterwards  decided  that 
there  should  be  a  Court  Martial  to  each  legion. 
Time  was  required  to  organize  so  many,  and  in 
the  meantime  a  general  Court  Martial  was  estab- 
lished which  could  act  at  once.  The  Court  made 
its  own  jurisprudence,  its  code  of  procedure,  and 
its  penal  code.  Rossel  proposed  that  there  should 
be  but  one  penalty — death.  The  Court  preferred 
to  admit  a  little  variety.  The  Commune  itself  sat 
in  judgment  upon  offences  of  the  press.  It 
announced  that  it  would  try  its  own  members. 
It  conducted  the  proceedings  against  Bergeret, 
As  si,  and  Cluseret.  Its  defenders  hold  that  it 
proved  its  moderation  by  the  decree  regarding 
hostages.  The  Commune  had  also  abolished  con- 
scription and  a  standing  army.  On  the  other 
hand  it  compulsorily  incorporated  in  the  National 
Guard,  all  the  soldiers  then  in  Paris  and  every 
man  from  the  age  of  nineteen  to  forty,  married  or 
unmarried.  Soldiers  who  would  not  serve  were 
imprisoned;  there  were  numbers  of  them  in  all 
the  prisons,  1333  in  La  Petite  Roquette  alone. 
Many  of  them  were  massacred.  It  was  an  inven- 
tion of  Rossel's  to  pen  the  refractory  soldiers  up 
in  a  place  where  they  were  under  fire.  A  colonel 
declared,  rather  late,  on  21st  May,  that  "the 
penalty   incurred    by   all     defaulters  is    that    of 


440  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

death."  Another,  one  Spinoy,  decided  that  shops, 
stores,  commercial  establishments,  and  warehouses, 
held  by  the  rebels  or  by  their  representatives, 
should  be  at  once  closed  and  placed  under  seal. 

The  Commune  had  announced  a  reduction  of 
expenses.  It  was  par  excellence  the  Government 
of  the  people;  the  cheap  Government;  the  Central 
Committee  had  touched  nothing  but  its  thirty 
sous.  The  Commune  only  allowed  itself  fifteen 
francs  a  day.  No  enrolment  beyond  6000  francs. 
No  more  Generals-in-chief,  and  even  no  more 
Generals  !  Never,  under  any  régime,  however^ 
were  there  so  many  generals,  so  great  a  waste  of 
money  and  resources  of  all  kinds,  so  extravagant 
a  number  of  officers  and  functionaries. 

Those  who  were  neither  officers,  staff  officers 
of  the  legion,  officers  of  the  free  corps,  nor 
commissariat  officers,  were  at  all  events  commis- 
saries or  delegates  of  something  or  other.  A  few 
days  after  all  salaries  had  been  reduced  to  6000 
francs,  and  the  rank  of  general  had  been  abolished, 
it  was  settled  that  a  general  of  artillery  should 
receive  thirty-three  francs  a  day;  a  badly-done 
sum.  All  these  generals  had  aides-de  camp  and 
orderly  officers,  all  of  whom  drew  pay,  were 
bedizened  with  gold  lace  and  aiguillettes,  and 
indulged  not  only  in  vain  show  but  scandalous 
behaviour.     The   officers   rode  at  full  gallop,  to 


THE    COMMUNE.  441 

the  great  damage  of  folks'  carriages,  and  they 
drove  about  with  prostitutes.  Rigault,  for  the 
sake  of  example,  made  occasional  raids  on  the 
offenders.  He  clapped  the  women  into  Saint 
Lazare,  and  set  the  fine  officers  to  trundle  wheel- 
barrows in  pea  jackets.  Adieu,  gold  lace  !  The 
next  day  the  orgie  recommenced.  Nothing  is  so 
costly  as  disorder.  In  spite  of  the  efforts  of 
Jourde,  a  medical  student  of  twenty-eight,  who 
was,  after  Delescluze,  almost  the  only  man  of 
ability  among  them,  the  expenditure  was  in- 
creased in  one  day  to  1,800,000  francs.  It 
amounted  to  600,000  francs  at  least  during  the 
first  month.  After  the  Commune  had  spent  the 
money  which  was  found  in  the  ministerial  offices, 
and  absorbed  the  funds  of  the  Ministry  of  Finance, 
4,000,000,  the  produce  of  the  daily  receipts  from 
the  customs,  octroi,  registries,  &c., was  insufficient, 
so  20,000,000  were  borrowed  from  the  bank,  which 
could  not  refuse  the  loan  ;  a  tax  of  2,000,000  was 
levied  upon  the  railway  companies,  with  this 
clause,  "  payable  within  twenty-four  hours."  The 
expenditure  up  to  the  27th  May  reached  a  total 
of  47,000,000. 

The  bank  in  Paris  was  in  great  and  permanent 
danger.  It  might  be  pillaged  or  burnt.  It  was, 
however,  only  fleeced,  for  which  we  have  to  be 
thankful.      The   Governor,  M.    Rouland,   whose 


442  THE    GOVEENME.NT   OF    M.    THIEES. 

presence  was  indispensable  to  tlie  Minister  of 
Finance,  having  been  summoned  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  Versailles,  maintained  order  in  the  branch 
banks,  and  even  from  Versailles  was  able  to  watch 
over  the  interests  of  the  bank  and  contribute  to 
its  safety.  The  Under-governor,  M.  Plœuc,  and 
the  directors  remained  in  Paris,  and  encountered  the 
demands  of  the  Commune  with  a  skilful  mingling 
of  concession  and  inflexible  firmness,  when  occa- 
sion required,  which  did  them  the  greatest  honour. 
M.  Charles  Beslay,  who  had  been  the  first 
President  of  the  Commune,  and  who  was  its  senior 
member,  was  a  valuable  assistant.  He  was  a 
generous,  devoted,  enthusiastic  man.  He  had  been 
carried  away  with  the  most  absurd  systems  and 
theories  both  in  politics  and  socialism,  in  suc- 
cession, but  he  had  never  swerved  from  princi- 
ples of  the  strictest  integrity.  His  age  (he  was 
seventy-seven),  his  past  (he  had  been  for  a  long 
time  a  deputy),  his  well-established  reputation  as 
a  Republican  and  Socialist,  the  courage  of  which 
he  had  given  many  proofs,  and,  perhaps  above  all, 
that  proverbial  integrity,  gave  him  considerable 
weight  among  the  strange  companions  whom  his 
foolish  notions  had  collected  round  him.  They 
would  not  have  followed  him  in  politics,  he  knew 
it  too  well  to  try  them  ;  besides  he  had  neither  the 
great  nor  the  bad  qualities  by  which  a  man  leads 


THE    COMMUNE.  443 

men,  but  in  matters  of  finance  he  was  listened 
to  and  respected.  He  got  himself  installed  at 
the  bank  in  the  capacity  of  Government  Commis- 
sary. With  Beslay  as  surety  and  a  battalion  of 
employés,  well  disciplined  and  armed,  who  were 
kept  on  the  premises,  the  bank  managed  to  pull 
through.  It  is  tolerably  certain  that  Jourde  was  no 
hindrance.  He  calculated  upon  obtaining  millions 
when  the  Commune  should  require  them,  but  his 
ideas  on  finance  and  credit  were  too  sound  for 
him  to  countenance  depredation.  There  came  a 
terrible  moment  for  the  bank,  when  the  Commune 
and  even  Jourde  himself  maintained  that  the 
crown  jewels  were  lodged  there,  and  threatened 
to  enforce  their  surrender.  Had  the  siege  been 
prolonged  it  is  probable  that  this  *'  revendica- 
tion "  would  have  been  the  beginning  of  the  end, 
for  once  inside  the  place  the  enemy  would  have 
sacked  it.  Happily  the  bank  escaped  with  a 
fright  only,  and  all  the  money  taken  by  the  Com- 
mune passed  over  the  counters. 

The  Commune,  who  laid  hands  on  our  great  in- 
stitutions in  the  interval  before  burning  them, 
and  called  it  "  protection,"  appointed  M.  Accolas, 
a  private  tutor,  Dean  of  Faculty  of  Law;  M. 
Naquet,  Dean  of  Faculty  of  Medicine  ;  M.  Ernest 
Molle,  Director  of  the  Museum  of  Natural  History. 
Neither  M.  Accolas  nor  M.  Naquet  entered  upon 


444       THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

their  new  dignities.  M.  Jules  Simon,  in  summon- 
ing the  functionaries  to  Versailles,  had  excepted 
doctors  of  medicine,  schoolmasters,  and  custodians 
of  public  repositories.  The  officials,  and  most  of 
the  Librarians,  were  at  their  posts  in  the  Museums. 
The  Commune  replaced  those  who  had  left,  and 
did  not  dismiss  those  who  remained.  It  only  im- 
posed superiors  upon  them.  M.  Vincent  in  the  first 
place  and  M.  Elisée  Reclus  later  were  appointed 
to  superintend  the  National  Library,  where  the 
latter  was  joined  subsequently  by  M.  Guigard. 

The  churches  were  declared  Communal  pro- 
perty, and  placed  at  the  disposition  of  the  muni- 
cipal officers.  There  were  some  curious  discussions 
on  this  subject  in  the  Commune.  One  member 
could  prove  beyond  all  doubt  that  M.  Hauss- 
mann  had  sold  two  churches,  another  affirmed 
that  certain  churches  belonç^ed  "  to  associations 
called  Fabriques."  All  the  churches  were  overrun, 
many  were  pillaged,  two  or  three  only  were 
destroyed. 

General  Appert  gives  the  list  of  churches  in- 
vaded during  the  month  of  April,  with  the  dates 
of  the  occurrences.  "  St.  Eustache,  violently  en- 
tered April  11th;  Notre  Dame  de  Lorette,  pil- 
laged, 13th;  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  St.  Jean, 
St.  François,  9th  ;  St.  Martin,  24th  ;  St.  Pierre, 
10th;     Notre    Dame    de     Clignancourt,     12th; 


THE    COMMUNE.  445 

St.  Leu,  13th;  St.  Bernard,  13tli;  St.  Roch, 
15th;  St.  Honoré,  St.  Medard,  St.  Jacques-du- 
Hautpas,  the  Chapelle  Bréa,  15th  and  16th;  Notre 
Dame  de-la-Croix,  17th;  St.  Ambroise,  22nd; 
Notre  Dame  de  Bercy,  afterwards  burnt  between 
28th  and  30th  April,  St.  Lambert,  St.  Christophe, 
St.  Germain  I'Auxerrois,  St.  Marguerite,  St.  Pierre 
de  Moutrouge. 

On  Good  Friday  a  delegate  with  a  squad  of 
soldiers  entered  the  Sacristy  of  Notre  Dame, 
ordered  the  presses  to  be  opened,  packed  up  all 
the  valuables,  and  proceeded  to  load  a  van  with 
the  spoil.  A  courageous  beadle  escaped  un- 
observed during  the  operations,  and  informed  the 
Commune  of  what  was  taking  place.  They  were 
in  a  tolerant  humour  that  day  at  the  Hôtel  de 
Ville,  and  besides,  they  did  not  approve  of  these 
encroachments,  for  after  all,  whence  came  this 
delegate  ?  on  what  authority  was  he  acting  ? 
Perhaps  on  that  of  the  Central  Committe  !  A 
better  authorized  delegate  was  despatched  to  the 
spot,  who  seized  upon  the  half-laden  van,  opened 
the  packages,  and  replaced  the  ornaments  and 
jewels  in  the  repositories  of  the  Chapter.  This 
was  a  triumph  for  the  Commune,  for  good  sense,  and 
for  the  Sacristy.  The  grateful  beadle  presented 
the  Commune  with  a  "  satisfecit,"  which  provoked 
a  laugh,  by  its  style  and  its  spelling,  even  in 
those  days  when  men  no  longer  laughed. 


446  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

The  fate  of  tlie  cliurches  varied  according  to 
the  disposition  of  the  municipal  officers.  In  some 
districts  they  were  converted  into  club-rooms,  in 
which  meetings  were  held.  "  They  seemed  made 
on  purpose."  And  the  orators  mounted  the  pulpits, 
which  were  decorated  with  red  flags.  Some  of  the 
churches  were  made  to  serve  a  double  purpose. 
The  services  were  performed  in  the  sanctuary, 
and  club-meetings  were  held  in  the  nave. 

In  the  20th  arrondissement.  Citizen  Le  Moussu 
carried  the  following  resolution  : — 

"  Seeing  that  the  clergy  are  bandits,  and  that 
the  churches  are  their  haunts,  in  which  they 
have  morally  assassinated  the  masses,  by 
handing  over  France  to  the  claws  of  the 
infamous  Bonaparte,  Favre,  and  Trochu  ;  the 
civil  delegate  of  the  quarries  near  the  ex- Prefec- 
ture of  Police  orders  that  the  Church  of  St. 
Pierre  de  Montmartre  sliall  be  closed,  and  decrees 
the  arrest  of  the  priests  and  Ignorantins." 

This  decree  and  its  style  were  not  to  the  taste 
of  the  Commune,  and  the  civil  delegate  of  the 
quarries  near  the  ex-Prefecture  of  Police  had  the 
mortification  of  finding  himself  repudiated.  But 
as  time  went  on  wrath  against  the  clergy  grew 
apace.  The  Archbishop  of  Paris,  his  vicars, 
parish  priests,  almoners,  Jesuits,  Dominicans,  and 
missionaries  were  thrown  into  prison.  The 
Sisters  of  Charity,  the  nuns  of  Picpus  were  sent 


THE    COMMUNE.  447 

to  St.  Lazare  ;  the  goods  of  the  Communities 
were  sequestrated.  At  the  Beaujon  Hospital  the 
nursing  sisters  were  replaced  by  "  Citoyennes." 
At  length  public  worship  was  interdicted  every- 
where ;  it  had  been  suppressed  in  the  prisons  from 
the  first  ;  and,  to  inflame  the  anger  of  the  people, 
which  required  no  fuel,  the  most  extraordinary  non- 
sense was  published  concerning  some  skeletons  a 
hundred  years  old,  which  had  been  found  in  a  char- 
nel house  near  the  Church  of  St.  Laurent.  The 
chapel  erected  to  the  memory  of  General  Bréa, 
who  was  assassinated  in  June,  1848,  was  con- 
demned to  demolition,  by  decree,  and  a  similar 
fate  was  reserved  for  the  Expiatory  Chapel  of 
Louis  XVI.;  but  there  was  not  time  to  put  the 
decree  into  execution. 

As  may  be  supposed,  all  instruction  was  de- 
clared secular,  and  masters  and  mistresses  be- 
longing to  the  Rehgious  Orders  were  dismissed. 
This  operation  was  a  long  and  diflicult  one.  It 
was  necessary  to  reiterate  decrees,  to  repeat  and 
aggravate  the  menaces  which  were  directed  against 
those  teachers.  Crucifixes  were  also  proscribed, 
and  such  as  were  made  of  precious  metal  were  taken 
to  the  mint  to  be  converted  into  ingots.  M.  Thiers' 
house  was  pulled  down.  The  first  decree  had  not 
been  executed,  and  complaints  arose  in  the  Com- 
mune, during  its  high  and  palmy  days.  "  Let  us  end 


448  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIEKS. 

this,"  said  the  malcontents.     They  ended  it  by  the 
following  decree  : — 

"The  Committee  of  Public  "Welfare, 

*'  Seeing  that  a  notice  has  been  issued  by 
M.  Thiers,  styling  himself  Chief  of  the  Executive 
of  the  French  Republic  ; 

"  Seeing  that  this  notice,  printed  at  Ver- 
sailles, has  been  posted  on  the  walls  of  Paris  by 
the  orders  of  the  said  Thiers  ;  that  in  this  docu- 
ment he  declares  that  he  is  not  bombarding  Paris 
whilst  every  day  women  and  children  fall  victims 
to  the  fratricidal  projectiles  of  Versailles;  that 
by  it  treason  is  appealed  to  that  he  may  get  into 
the  city,  knowing  the  absolute  impossibility  of 
conquering  the  heroic  population  of  Paris  by  force 
of  arms  ; 

"  Decrees  : 

"  1st.  Thiers'  goods  shall  be  seized  by  the  Ad- 
ministration of  Public  Property. 

"  2nd.  Thiers'  house  situated  in  the  Place  Saint 
Georges,  shall  be  pulled  down. 

"  Citizens  Fontaine  and  Andrieux  are  charged 
with  the  immediate  execution  of  this  order. 

*'  The  members  of  the  Committee  of  Public 
Welfare  : 

"  Ant.  Arnaud,  Eudes,  F.  Gambon,  G.  Ranvier. 

"  21.  Floréal.     Year  79." 

{Officiel  oî  the  nth  May.) 


THE   COMMUNE.  449 

The  column  in  the  Place  Vendôme  was  pulled 
down. 

"  The  Commune  of  Paris, 

*'  Considering  that  the  Imperial  column  in  the 
Place  Vendôme  is  a  monument  of  barbarism,  a 
symptom  of  brute  force  and  of  false  glory,  an 
affirmation  of  militarism,  a  negation  of  interna- 
tional law,  a  perpetual  insult  offered  to  the  con- 
quered by  the  conquerors,  a  standing  outrage 
upon  fraternity,  one  of  the  three  great  principles 
of  the  French  Republic; 
"  Decrees  : 

Single  Article. — The  Column  in  the  Place  Ven- 
dôme shall  be  pulled  down. 
"12th  April." 

The  "Moderates"  resorted  to  all  kinds  ot 
shifts  to  prevent  the  execution  of  this  sentence  of 
death.  First,  they  got  it  put  off  until  the  anni- 
versary of  the  5th  May.  The  anniversary  came 
and  passed,  the  engineers  were  not  ready,  and 
there  was  a  fresh  adjournment.  At  length  there 
was  no  more  to  be  done.  The  column  fell  on  the 
16  th  May. 

Arthur  Arnould  said,  "  You  are  falling  into 
derision  and  odium."  Avrial  said,  "  You  vote 
decrees,  and  you  have  no  means  of  getting  them 
executed.  One  passes  on  the  responsibility  to 
another,  and  nothing  is  done."     Vallès  said,  "  I 

VOL.  I.  G  g 


450  THE   GOVERNMENT   OP   M.   THIERS. 

have  been  to  your  prison  in  the  Rue  Cherclie- 
Micli  ;  and  it's  a  perpetual  seesaw  of  arrests  and 
discharges."  BilHoray  said,  "  The  War  Admi- 
nistration is  the  organization  of  disorganization. 
It  is  an  incapable  dictatorship."  Delescluze  said, 
even  in  April,  "  Do  you  think  that  everybody 
here  approves  of  what  is  going  on  ?  "  On  the  9th 
May  he  said,  "  We  have  got  a  Committee  of 
Public  Welfare.  What  does  it  do  ?  It  makes 
special  appointments  instead  of  specific  acts. 
It  has  just  appointed  Citizen  Moreau  Civil  Dele- 
gate for  War.  What  then  are  the  members  of 
the  War  Commission  doinof  ?  Are  we  nothino-  ? 
I  cannot  admit  that.  Your  Committee  of  Public 
Welfare  is  annihilated,  crushed  under  the  weight 
of  the  memories  with  which  it  is  laden,  and  it 
cannot  even  do  what  might  be  done  by  a  mere 
Executive  Commission." 

"  I  am  filled  with  disgust,"  said  Vermorel,  "  in 
the  midst  of  such  folly,  pretension,  and  cowardice. 
The  game  is  lost.  The  communal  idea  was  a  good 
one,  but  we  had  only  fools,  knaves,  and  trai- 
tors to  carry  it  out  ;  our  instruments  were  either 
base  or  ridiculous.  I  have  no  hope,  and  no  faith 
in  anything  I  see  or  in  any  one  who  approaches 
me."  We  have  heard  what  Possel  said.  His 
practical  knowledge  and  firmness  of  purpose  were 
indisiDutable,  and  his  charges  are  sweeping.     On 


TPIE    COMMUNE.  451 

tlie  14tli  May,  a  correspondence  on  tlie  position  of 
Paris  appeared  in  the  Temps.  It  contained  the 
following  : — 

"  At  the  present  writing  there  no  longer  exists 
anything,  or  nearly  so.  The  Commune  holds  no 
more  meetings  because  it  could  only  meet  to 
arrest  itself;  Pyat  would  demand  the  head  of 
Delescluze,  who  would  demand  the  head  of 
Colonel  Brunei,  who  has  deserted  Fort  Issy  ?  The 
Central  Committee  would  indict  all  whom  the 
Commune  should  have  overlooked.  Delescluze 
and  Pyat  are  playing  at  hide  and  seek.  Delescluze 
■wishes  to  reinstate  Rossel,  Pyat  would  like  to 
hang  him.  The  Committee  is  for  Pyat,  the  Com- 
mune is  for  Delescluze  ;  Rossel  is  in  a  safe  hiding- 
place,  out  of  which  he  will  not  come,  for  he  is 
more  afraid  of  those  who  want  to  make  a  dictator 
of  him  than  of  those  who  want  to  have  him 
shot." 

With  a  Government  in  such  a  state  of  disorder, 
a  well-behaved  population  was  hardly  to  be  looked 
for.  Every  day  fresh  orders  were  issued  that 
prostitutes  were  not  to  walk  the  streets,  which 
only  proves  that  street-walking  was  not  dis- 
continued. Rigault,  who  took  fits  of  severity 
towards  other  people,  passed  his  nights  in  orgies, 
at  the  ex-Prefec<»ure,  with  "  his  Staff."  Never  had 
so  many  drunken   men  been   seen.     The  pay  of 

G  g  2 


452  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

one  franc  fifty  centimes  was  spent  on  drink  ;  and 
all  kinds  of  measures  had  to  be  taken  to  secure  a 
portion  of  that  sum  for  the  men's  wives.  The 
municipal  officers  gave  orders  that  any  National 
Guard  who  was  found  drunk,  or  in  the  company  of 
prostitutes,  should  be  taken  to  prison.  This 
would  have  been  no  trifling  task.  Here  is  a  letter 
from  Cluseret  to  the  generals  under  his  orders, 
during  his  dictatorship. 
"  General, 

*'  There  is  a  general  complaint,  and  especially 
from  the  Commune,  of  your  over-sumptuous  staff, 
and  that  they  show  themselves  on  the  Boulevards 
with  loose  women,  and  in  carriages,  etc.  I  beg 
of  you  to  make  a  clean  sweep  of  all  these  people. 
You  are  compromised  by  them,  and  with  you,  I 
myself,  and  our  principles." 

Here  again  is  a  portrait  of  an  officer  of  the 
National  Guard  drawn  by  Rossel  with  a  master 
hand,  also  during  the  time  of  his  power.  "  These 
rascally  officers  of  the  Commune,  drinking  at  the 
public-house  bar  with  the  sergeants  ;  beggars  dis- 
guised as  soldiers,  and  who  turn  the  uniform  into 
which  they  have  been  thrust  into  unsightly  rags  ; 
with  their  trousers  twisted,  their  swords  between 
their  legs,  their  belts  loose,  coats  too  big  for  them, 
their  greasy  képis  on  the  top  of  their  dirty 
selves,  their  eyes  and   their  speech  alike  tipsy; 


THE    COMMUNE.  453 

such  were  the  fellows  who  pretended  to  free  the 
country  from  the  rule  of  the  sword,  and  who  could 
only  institute  the  rule  of  delirium  tremens."  There 
was  not  too  much  honesty,  dummies  in  the  compa- 
nies, and  scandalous  perquisites  to  make  up  for  the 
small  salaries  were  not  the  only  kinds  of  theft  in 
practice  ;  there  were  also  organized  robberies. 
General  Appert  describes  the  pillage  of  Neuilly 
from  the  Report  of  the  Government  commissary: — 
"  On  the  10th  May  the  257th  battahon  replaced 
the  117th.  Till  then  there  had  been  only  isolated 
cases  of  pillage.  From  the  18th  May  the  257th 
exhibit  no  further  scruples,  and  seem  to  «fear 
nothing  except  discovery.  There  are  still  in  the 
cantonments  old  men,  women  and  children.  These 
indiscreet  witnesses  must  be  got  rid  of  at  any 
cost.  Revolver  in  hand  they  expel  the  remaining 
inhabitants,  bully  or  threaten  with  death  those 
who  resist.  They  drive  the  people  like  sheep  to 
head-quarters — stones  are  flung  at  them  all  the 
way — thence  to  despatch  them  to  Paris.  A  dying 
woman  does  not  even  find  grace  with  these  men 
thirsting  for  spoil  ;  she  cannot  walk,  so  they  carry 
her  on  a  mattress  across  the  garden.  Then  follow 
orgies  and  plunder.  All  these  houses  are  only 
separated  by  garden  walls  ;  the  pillagers  make  their 
way  from  one  to  the  other  by  breaking  holes  in 
them,  and  they  get  into  the  rooms  by  smashing 
doors  and  windows. 


454  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

"  Gowns  of  silk  and  velvet,  shawls,  laces,  linen, 
curtains,  clocks,  pictures,  curiosities,  and  objects 
of  art,  all  that  can  be  removed  they  pack  up  and 
send  to  Paris.  The  cellars  still  contain  wine  ;  they 
get  drink,  and  then  wind  up  these  festivities  by 
horrible  balls  to  which  the  robbers  dressed  up  in  the 
spoils  of  their  victims,  invite  their  concubines, 
whom  they  summoned  from  Paris,  and  also  their 
lawful  wives." 

The  journals  of  the  party  contributed  not  a  little 
by  their  bitterness  and  exaggeration  to  the  troubles 
of  the  Government.  Rigault  and  the  others  did 
not  scruple  to  suppress  some  of  them.  They  even 
ventured  to  suppress  the  Commune,  Millière's 
paper,  he  being  also  suspected  of"  Moderantisme," 
A  great  number,  however,  still  existed.  La 
Vérité,  edited  by  Portalis  ;  La,  Lutte  à  outrance, 
which  belonged  to  the  School  of  Medicine  club  ;  the 
Mot  d'Ordre,  Rochefort's  paper,  which  supported 
Rossel.  (Rochefort  got  tired  of  it  at  last,  fled  in 
disguise,  was  taken  and  brought  to  Versailles, 
where  he  arrived  on  the  20th  May.)  La  Car- 
magnole, by  Touchatout  ;  Le  Cri  du  Peuple,  Jules 
Vallès;  Le  Père  Duchesne,  Vermersch  ;  L'Ordre  and 
L'Ami  du  Peuple,  published  one  after  the  other,  but 
without  success,  by  Vermozel.  La  Sociale,  André 
Leo  ;  La  Montagne,  Le  Saint  Vullic,  G.  Maroteau  ; 
L'Action,  Le  Tribun  du  Peuple,  Lissagaray  ;  Paris 
Libre,  Vesinier  ;  Le  Réveil  du  Peuple,  by  Cournet 


THE   COMMUNE.  455 

and  Razoua  ;  Le  Bonnet  Bougea  by  Segondignc  ; 
etc.,  etc. 

With  all  this,  a  city  full  of  clubs  and  committees, 
who  made  speeches,  assigned  missions  to  them- 
selves, and  assumed  a  right  of  control  over  every 
one  and  every  thing.  The  Central  Republican 
Union,  the  Republican  Union  for  the  Rights  of 
Paris  ;  the  Jacobin  Club  ;  the  League  of  the  Deliver- 
ance of  Alsace-Lorraine;  the  St.  Eustaclie  club; 
the  St.  Sulpice  club,  (church  clubs  may  be  men- 
tioned collectively  ;  there  was  scarcely  a  church 
without  its  club.)  The  School  of  Medicine  club  : 
one  of  the  most  active  and  powerful  both  before 
and  after  the  18th  March  ;  the  Republican  Alliance 
of  the  Departments,  a  club  formed  of  former 
citizens  of  the  departments,  now  inhabitants  of 
Paris.  The  Commission  of  Conciliation  of  com- 
merce, of  work  and  industry  ;  the  Central  Com- 
mittee of  the  Women's  Union  for  the  defence  of 
Paris,  and  the  succour  of  the  wounded;  the 
Federation  of  Freemasons  of  all  rites  ;  the  Car- 
bonarism  of  all  countries  ;  the  Federation  of 
Artists  ;  and  above  all  these  associations  and 
corporations,  the  International  Association,  which 
perseveringly  pursued  its  socialistic  aims  without 
attracting  any  notice,  and  which  had  a  hand  in 
all  political  affairs  ;  lastly,  the  Central  Committee, 
its  ally  if  not  its  instrument,  and  which  originated 
the  Revolution. 


456  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

The  "  Conciliators"  were  very  numerous  in  Paris, 
even  in  the  clubs,  where  they  did  not  always  obtain 
a  hearing.  For  many  this  was  a  mission,  for 
some  it  was  a  profession.  Those,  both  men  and 
women,  who  did  not  frequent  the  clubs,  but  re- 
mained sorrowing  in  their  own  houses,  were  also 
for  conciliation,  because  they  were  for  peace. 
The  Freemasons  made  a  solemn  manifestation  at 
the  Hôtel  de  Ville  ;  they  went  in  procession  to 
the  ramparts  to  plant  their  banners  there,  they 
sent  delegates  to  Versailles,  who  saw  a  great  many 
people,  spoke  with  emotion  of  the  evils  of  war, 
and  the  necessity  for  peace  ;  but  returned  to  Paris 
having  obtained  nothing. 

The  other  associations,  those  even  who  like  the 
*'  League  of  Paris  "  made  continuous  efforts  during 
two  months  with  great  zeal  and  courage,  had 
no  better  success.  The  departments  also  inter- 
fered ;  the  towns,  great  and  small,  sent  delegates 
to  negotiate  for  peace,  or,  not  attempting  so  high 
a  line,  to  beg  for  it. 

They  lured  each  other  in  all  good  faith  with 
those  two  words — Conciliation  and  Peace  ;  all 
would  have  been  glad  to  have  peace.  But  there 
at  Versailles  was  the  regular  Government,  and  the 
Assembly,  the  issue  of  universal  suffrage  ;  in  Paris 
were  rebels  :  at  Versailles,  the  old  social  system  of 
France,  based  upon  the  eternal  principle  of  law  ;  in 


THE   COMMUNE.  457 

Paris  was  the  negation  of  all  law  and  principle. 
The  Government  of  Paris  had  but  one  means  of 
making  peace — to  submit.  Versailles,  that  is  to 
say  France,  had  also  one,  to  promise  indulgence 
to  the  erring,  but  only  when  they  had  laid  down 
their  arms,  and  to  the  exclusion  of  all  the  leaders 
and  all  the  assassins. 

What  could  the  conciliators  do  in  such  a  state 
of  things  ?  If  they  merely  expressed  a  platonic 
desire  they  would  be  simply  ridiculous,  if  they 
proposed  to  make  concessions  to  the  rebellion 
they  would  be  almost  criminal.  The  rôle  of  con- 
ciliators in  earnest  could  have  been  possible  only 
to  the  Mayors  of  Paris,  and  that  during  the  first 
week  of  the  Insurrection  ;  now  they  must  fight.  As 
to  talking  of  "  Leagues  of  Peace,"  the  sole  chance 
of  obtaining  peace  lay  in  supporting  the  Govern- 
ment. 

The  municipal  councils  of  a  great  number  of 
towns  in  the  south  resolved  to  form  an  assembly 
to  consult  on  the  means  of  conciliation.  The 
assembly  was  to  meet  at  Bordeaux,  and  depu- 
tations were  already  arriving  there  when  the 
Government  interfered.  The  municipal  councils 
had  overstepped  their  proper  bounds,  and  were 
violating  the  law.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  dele- 
gates assured  them  that  thej  were  acting  as  in- 
dividuals, not  as  municipal  councillors.  If  the  laws 


458  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

could  be  so  easily  set  aside  there  would  soon  be 
no  laws  left.  The  form  in  wbicb  the  assembly 
was  convoked  admitted  of  no  subterfuge.  Even 
had  the  delegates  done  no  more  than  form  an 
assembly  chosen  by  the  large  towns,  it  was  to  be 
feared  that  this  meeting  might  usurp  a  political 
authority,  and  might  want  to  set  the  large  towns 
against  the  rural  districts,  as  was  done  daily  in 
Paris.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  we  were  in 
the  midst  of  a  civil  war  ;  that  the  Commune  of  Paris 
was  in  rebellion  against  the  National  Assembly  ; 
that  several  towns  had  after  their  example  pro- 
claimed the  Commune,  and  attempted  a  struggle 
as  impotent  as  it  was  criminal  against  the  regular 
Government  of  the  country;  that  it  Lad  been 
necessary  in  several  localities  to  fire  on  the  Insur- 
gents ;  that  certain  municipalities  had  addressed 
the  Government  and  the  Assembly  in  a  tone  of 
menace  ;  that,  in  terms  which  were  calculated  to 
weaken  the  distinction  between  the  just  and  the 
unjust,  they  had  proposed  that  the  Assembly 
should  treat  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  Com- 
mune, thereby  confounding  lawful  order  with  in- 
surrection, the  power  created  by  the  will  of  France, 
with  the  dictatorship  which  had  imposed  itself  on 
Paris  by  crime,  and  was  reigning  there  by  terror. 

An  assembly  solemnly  convoked   at   Bordeaux 
meeting    in    the    building  which  had   been    oc- 


THE   COMMUNE.  459 

cupied  six  weeks  previously  by  tlie  National 
Assembly,  and  nominated  exclusively  by  the  large 
towns,  would  have  confirmed  the  antagonism  that 
the  Commune  sought  to  create  between  the  towns 
and  the  country  districts.  How  should  such  an 
assembly  be  prudent  enough  to  limit  itself  to  the 
part  it  affected  to  play  ?  It  would  receive  the 
adhesion  of  Socialists  and  Revolutionists  ;  before 
long  it  would  believe  itself  to  have  rights  and  supe- 
rior authority  ;  for  Paris  it  would  be  an  auxiliary, 
for  "  the  rustics  of  Versailles  "  an  enemy.  Not 
only  was  the  Government  justified  in  interdicting 
the  meeting,  but  when  some  time  later  M.  Thiers 
pressed  upon  the  Assembly  the  necessity  of 
depriving  the  municipal  councils  of  towns  of  the 
right  to  elect  their  mayors,  it  is  evident  this 
recollection  was  present  with  him.  He  had  long 
been  of  opinion  that  the  nomination  of  the  majors 
ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Government, 
and  he  was  confirmed  in  his  ideas  on  this  point  by 
witnessing  the  attitude  of  the  large  towns  in  the 
south,  and  hearing  their  language. 

The  congress,  which  had  been  unable  to  meet 
at  Bordeaux,  found  a  refuge  at  Lyons.  But 
warned  by  their  repulse,  its  members  did  not  court 
notice,  nor  did  they  affect  the  formalities  of  a 
meeting  of  representatives;  they  adopted  the 
language  and  bearing  of  the  Union  for  the  Rights 


460  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF    M.    THIERS. 

of  Paris,  with  whicli  they  placed  themselves  in 
correspondence  ;  and  they  sent  delegates  to  Ver- 
sailles, with  a  mission  to  M.  Thiers.  Afterwards, 
if  necessary,  they  were  to  address  themselves  to 
the  Commune  of  Paris. 

M.  Thiers  received  all  who  came  ;  it  was  mar- 
vellous how  he  found  time.  He  managed  the 
army  as  much  as  did  the  General-in-chief  ;  he 
never  passed  a  day  without  personally  visiting 
the  outposts,  he  sat  in  council  with  his  ministers 
daily  for  hours  ;  difficulties  with  Berlin  and 
the  German  generals  were  perpetually  arising, 
which  aggravated  and  embittered  the  civil  war. 
The  Assembly  on  its  side  wanted  to  know  every- 
thing, meddled  with  everything,  wished  to  govern, 
and  was  perpetually  sending  to  him  or  requiring 
his  presence.  He  spoke  from  the  tribune,  he  spoke 
in  the  Committees,  he  wrote  despatches  with 
M.  Jules  Favre.  In  the  midst  of  overwhelming 
work,  and  cares  of  every  kind,  he  listened  to 
the  delegates  with  patience.  It  was  not  an  easy 
matter  to  answer  them.  The  delegates  complained 
that  he  did  not  make  concessions  enough,  and  the 
Right  that  he  made  too  many  ;  he  replied,  however, 
and  in  unvarying  terms,  that,  as  to  the  Republic,  it 
ran  no  risk  in  his  hands,  that  he  would  not  permit 
any  party  to  attack  it,  that  he  should  restore  the 
trust  such    as  he  had  accepted  it    at  Bordeaux, 


THE    COMMCTNE.  461 

honestly  and  faithfully  ;  that  he  had  no  political 
mental  reservations,  nor  any  other  desire  than  to 
cure  the  ills  of  France.  He  promised  for  Paris  all 
the  liberty  compatible  with  the  security  of  the 
State.  If  the  insurgents  would  lay  down  their 
arms,  he  undertook  that  only  the  ringleaders, 
and  those  who  had  been  guilty  of  offences  against 
the  common  law  should  be  punished.  He  even 
consented  to  give  the  National  Guard  their  pay, 
until  the  workshops  should  be  reopened.  Could 
he  answer  otherwise?  The  Right  would  have 
had  him  refuse  all  audiences,  or  if  he  granted 
them,  speak  only  of  his  determination  to  quell  the 
Insurrection.  They  reproached  him  especially  for 
his  careful  handling  of  the  Republican  form,  which 
almost  amounted  to  an  adhesion. 

The  negotiators,  on  the  contrary,  considered  that 
he  promised  nothiog,  because  he  persisted  in  treat- 
ing the  chiefs  of  the  Commune  as  rebels  ;  in  fact, 
almost  all  those  who  came  to  Versailles  were,  in 
reality,  for  Paris.  The  most  reasonable  put  Ver- 
sailles and  Paris  on  the  same  level  ;  they  proposed 
the  simultaneous  abdication  of  the  Assembly  and 
the  Commune,  and  the  election  of  a  new  Assembly. 
This  was  to  propose  that  law  should  be  abandoned 
and  revolt  legalized.  These  attempts  were  made 
so  often  and  under  so  many  forms,  that  it  was 
feared  the  good  sense    of   the  people   would   be 


462  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP  M.    THIERS. 

affected  by  them.  The  Commune  on  their  side 
never  for  a  moment  thought  of  submitting  ;  when 
they  entertained  the  idea  of  a  negotiation,  it  was  on 
the  footing  of  one  power  treating  with  another, 
and  they  did  not  even  do  that  until  the  last 
moment,  when  the  army  was  already  in  Paris. 
On  the  3rd  May  Paschal  Grousset  exclaimed,  "  I 
demand  of  the  Commune  to  have  done  with 
negotiators;"  another  said,  "  We  are  not  bellige- 
rents, we  are  judges."  A  saying  was  current 
among  the  most  violent,  both  in  Paris  and  at  Ver- 
sailles, "  Negotiation  is  treason."  The  women 
were  associated  with  these  efforts,  but  in  different 
ways;  some  ardently  desiring  peace,  looking  at 
nothing  else  ;  begging  it,  so  to  speak,  on  their 
knees  ;  others  repelling  the  idea  with  scorn,  and 
wanting,  as  they  proclaimed  incessantly  among 
the  combatants,  "  to  conquer  or  to  die." 

The  following  proclamation  was  posted  in  Paris, 
on  the  3rd  May  : — 

"  The  women  of  Paris,  in  the  name  of  Country, 
Honour,  and  even  Humanity,  demand  an  armistice. 

"  They  think  that  the  courageous  resignation  of 
which  they  have  given  proof,  this  winter,  during 
the  siege,  has  established  for  them  a  right  to  be 
heard  by  the  opposing  parties,  and  they  hope  that 
their  titles  of  wives  and  mothers  will  soften  hearts 
alike  in  Paris  and  at  Versailles. 


THE    COMMUNE.  463 

"Weary  of  suffering,  terrified  by  the  misfortunes, 
this  time  inglorious  which  again  threaten  them, 
they  appeal  to  the  generosity  of  Versailles,  to  the 
generosity  of  Paris. 

"  They  implore  these  towns  to  lay  down  arms 
were  it  only  for  a  day,  two  days,  long  enough  for 
brothers  to  recognize  and  come  to  an  agreement 
with  each  other,  long  enough  to  arrive  at  a  peaceful 
solution.  All  the  women,  those  who  have  little 
children  whom  the  shells  may  reach  even  in  their 
cradles,  those  whose  husbands  are  fighting  from 
sincere  conviction,  those  whose  husbands  and  sons 
earn  their  daily  bread  upon  the  ramparts,  those 
who  now  are  the  sole  guardians  of  their  homes, 
all  the  calmest  as  well  as  the  most  enthusiastic, 
from  their  hearts  cry  to  Versailles  and  Paris  for 
Peace — Peace. 

(Signed)  "  A  group  of  *  Citoyennes.'  " 

This  was  the  answer,  which  was  not  long 
delayed. 

"  Manifesto  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the 
*  Women's  Union  for  the  Defence  of  Paris  and  the 
Care  of  the  wounded.' 

"  In  the  name  of  the  social  Revolution  which  we 
proclaim,  in  the  name  of  the  rights  of  labour,  of 
equality  and  justice,  the  Union  of  Women  for  the 
Defence  of  Paris  and  the  Care  of  the  Wounded, 
protest  with  all  their  strength  against   the  un- 


464  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

wortliy  proclamation  of  tlie  *  Citoyennes  '  posted 
the  day  before  yesterday,  and  emanating  from 
an  anonymous  group  of  reactionaries.  The  said 
proclamation  sets  forth  that  the  women  of  Paris 
appeal  to  the  generosity  of  Versailles,  and  demand 
peace  at  any  price  ! 

"  The  generosity  of  cowardly  assassins  !  a  con- 
ciliation between  liberty  and  despotism,  between 
the  people  and  their  persecutors  ! 

"  No,  it  is  not  Peace,  but  War  à  outrance  that  the 
working  women  of  Paris  call  for  ! 

"  To-day  a  coalition  would  be  treason  !  It  would 
be  to  belie  all  the  aspirations  of  labour  which 
proclaims  an  absolute  social  renovation,  the  anni- 
hilation of  all  actually  existing  juridical  and  social 
relations,  the  suppression  of  all  privileges,  the 
substitution  of  the  reign  of  labour  for  that  of 
capital;  in  a  word,  the  enfranchisement  of  the 
worker  by  himself. 

"  Six  months  of  suffering  and  of  treason  during 
the  siege,  six  weeks  of  superhuman  struggle  with 
a  coalition  of  knaves  and  spoilers,  rivers  of  blood 
shed  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  these  are  our  titles 
to  glory  and  vengeance. 

"  The  present  struggle  can  have  no  other  issue 
than  the  triumph  of  the  popular  cause.  Paris  will 
not  draw  back,  for  she  carries  the  banner  of  the 
future.  The  supreme  hour  has  struck.  Room 
for  the  workers,  down  with  their  oppressors  I 


THE    COMMUNE.  465 

"  Deeds  !  earnestness  !  the  tree  of  liberty- 
flourishes,  watered  by  the  blood  of  its  enemies. 

"  United  and  resolute,  aggrandized  and  enlight- 
ened by  the  sufferings  that  a  social  crisis  ever 
brings  in  its  train,  profoundly  convinced  that  the 
Commune,  representing  the  revolutionary  and  in- 
ternational principles  of  nations,  bears  within  it 
the  germ  of  the  social  revolution,  the  women  of 
Paris  will  prove  to  France,  and  to  the  world,  that 
they  also,  in  the  moment  of  supreme  danger,  on 
the  ramparts  of  Paris,  at  the  barricades,  should 
the  reaction  force  the  gates,  know  how  to  give, 
like  their  brothers,  their  blood  and  their  lives  for 
the  defence,  and  the  triumph  of  the  Commune, 
that  is  to  say,  of  the  People  ! 

"  In  that  day,  victorious,  free  to  unite  and  agree 
upon  their  mutual  interests,  working  men  and 
working  women,  forming  one  solidarity,  shall 
annihilate  for  ever,  by  a  last  effort,  every  vestige 
of  exploitation  and  those  who  practise  it. 

"  Long  live  the  social  and  universal  Republic  I 

"  Long  live  labour  ! 

"  Long  live  the  Commune  ! 

"  The  executive  commission  of  the  Central 
Committee,  Le  Mel,  Jacquier,  Lefevre,  Leloup, 
Dmitrief.— Paris,  6tli  May." 

The  "  citoyennes,"  Lemel,  Jaquier,  Lefevre,  Le- 
loup, and  Dmitrief  did  not  confine  themselves  to 

VOL.  I.  n  h 


466  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

proclamations  in  this  higli  style  ;  a  few  days  later 
they  turned  out  a  battalion  of  2500  women, 
commanded  by  men,  well  armed  and  equipped, 
who  were  reviewed  on  the  15th  May  in  the  court- 
yard of  the  Tuileries  by  two  general  officers,  and 
a  delegate  of  the  Commune.  They  received,  like 
the  others,  one  franc  fifty  centimes  as  pay,  and 
rations.  Their  exploits  are  not  recorded,  but 
there  are  instances  of  individuals,  attached  to  the 
companies  as  canteen  women,  or  who  joined  in 
the  contest  as  soldiers  in  uniform,  who  displayed 
courage  and  eagerness  scarcely  equalled  by  the 
men,  and  ferocity  which  contributed  not  a  little 
to  render  the  civil  war  especially  sanguinary. 

Mauy  were  to  be  found  at  a  later  date  behind 
the  barricades.  Others  undertook  the  pouring  of 
petroleum  upon  the  houses.  The  unfortunate 
women  who  preached  conciliation  and  prayed  with 
tears  for  peace,  had  dangerous  and  terrible  neigh- 
bours. The  Commune  expected  something  more 
from  the  largo  towns  than  sympathetic  demon- 
stration and  efforts  at  conciliation.  While  at  Ver- 
sailles the  meeting  of  the  Congress  of  Bordeaux 
had  been  prevented,  and  measures  were  taken  to 
dissolve  the  Congress  of  Lyons  the  moment  it 
presented  any  aspect  beyond  that  of  a  club; 
Paris  was  indignant  at  a  timid  intervention, 
which  led  only  to  speech-making  and  embassies. 


THE    COMMUNE.  407 

Lyon  S,  Marseilles  and  Toulouse  had  been  unable  to 
maintain  their  Communes  after  having  proclaimed 
them.  The  Congress  of  the  southern  towns  that 
was  to  have  met  at  Bordeaux  was  still-born.  The 
Commune  of  Paris  allowed  that  in  both  cases  they 
succumbed  to  force  ;  but  now,  when  by  means  of 
a  little  stratagem,  by  hiding  the  desired  aim,  and 
accepting  all  who  offered  themselves  as  delegates, 
a  number  of  Federalists  had  been  collected  to- 
gether, why  should  this  assembly  give  itself  airs 
of  impartiality  between  the  Commune  and  the 
Monarchy  ?  Paschal  Grousset  was  employed  to 
bring  these  lukewarm  friends  to  account.  "  What 
are  you  waiting  for  before  you  rise  ?  Is  it  that 
the  last  soldier  of  the  good  cause  may  have  been 
shot  down  by  the  poisoned  bullets  of  Versailles  ! 

"Are  you  waiting  until  Paris  is  transformed 
into  a  cemetery  and  every  house  into  a  tomb  ? 

"  Great  cities  !  the  time  is  at  an  end  for  mani- 
festations; you  have  muskets  and  ammunition. 
To  arms!" 

*'  Do  not  forget,  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Lille, 
Toulouse,  Nantes,  Bordeaux  and  others  !  Should 
Paris  fall  for  the  liberty  of  the  world,  avenging 
History  would  have  the  right  to  say  that  Paris 
was  slain  because  you  will  have  allowed  the 
murder  to  be  done." 

But  the  great  cities  remained  deaf  to  these 
H  h  2 


468  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

despairing  appeals.  The  congress  of  Lyons  had 
neither  generals  nor  soldiers.  It  had  done  all  in 
its  power  by  sending  commissaries  to  Paris  and 
Versailles,  and  it  continued  to  send  them  to  the 
end  :  some  were  still  at  Versailles  on  the  20th  May. 
There  they  met  with  the  delegates  of  the  Union  of 
the  Syndicate^,  who  came  from  Paris  to  make  one 
more  attempt  at  conciliation.  The  ambassadors 
from  the  Lyons  congress,  and  those  from  the  Syn- 
dicates of  Paris  assembled  in  a  body  to  demand  an 
audience  with  the  Chief  of  the  Executive.  It  was 
then  Saturday  evening,  and  the  end  was  close  at 
hand.  M.  Barthélémy  Saint-Hilaire  put  off  these 
tardy  diplomatists  to  Monday  the  22nd;  when 
that  day  came  they  learned  that  M.  Thiers  was  in 
Paris. 

The  ccmciliators,  its  platonic  friends,  were  only 
trouble  to  the  Commune.  The  Central  Committee 
of  the  National  Guard  was  something  more  than 
a  trouble,  it  was  a  danger.  When  the  Members  of 
Committee  were  ousted  by  the  votes  of  the  26th 
March,  they  flattered  themselves  if  they  kept  up 
their  influence  over  the  National  Guard,  the 
Commune  would  be  simply  a  sham  government, 
which  they  could  direct  or  suppress  at  pleasure. 

From  the  4th  April  the  Commune  felt  it  neces- 
sary to  inform  the  populace  that  the  Central  Com- 
mittee was  not  the  directing  power  ;  that,  in  fact,  it 


THE    COMMUNE.  469 

was  at  best  but  tbe  gi^eat  family  council  of  the 
National  Guard.  That  seemed  to  be  nothing,  but 
in  fact  it  was  everything  ;  for  every  citizen  was  a 
part  of  the  National  Guard,  and  in  Paris  there 
was  no  other  armed  force.  The  Central  Committee, 
more  clear-sighted  than  the  Commune,  took  a 
very  correct  view  of  the  situation,  and  acted 
accordingly.  On  the  6th  April,  the  Committee 
issued  a  proclamation,  as  though  it  were  itself  the 
Government  : — 

"  To  the  People  of  Paris. 
"  To  the  National  Guard. 

"  Citizens,  make  no  mistake,  this  is  the  great 
struggle  ;  it  is  between  parisitism  and  labour,  ex- 
ploitation and  production. 

"  Citizens  of  Paris,  merchants,  manufacturers, 
shopkeepers,  thinkers,  all  you  who  work,  and  who 
seek  in  good  faith  the  solution  of  social  problems  ; 
the  Central  Committee  adjures  you  to  march  in 
unison  towards  progress.  Let  the  destinies  of 
your  country  and  its  universal  genius  inspire 
you. 

"The  Committee  is  confident  that  the  heroic 
Parisian  population  is  about  to  immortalize  itself, 
and  to  regenerate  the  world." 

The  members  of  the  Central  Committee  hold 
debates  like  the  Commune;  they  exhibit  the  same 
insignia,   visit  the    battalions    on    the   ramparts. 


470  THE    GOVEENME^'T   OF   M.   THIERS. 

wliere  they  are  received  with  acclamation,  post  up 
notices  on  white  paper,  menace  the  defaulters, 
send  them  before  the  court  s -martial,  continue  the 
election  of  delegates  of  companies  and  of  battalions. 
The  decrees  of  the  Commune  are  scarcely  attended 
to,  but  every  one  takes  orders  from  the  Com- 
mittee. 

The  Committee  appoints  one  of  its  members 
civil  delegate  of  war.  It  obliges  Cluseret,  and 
afterwards  Rossel,  to  resign  their  posts  in  the 
administration  in  its  favour.  It  installs  itself 
and  its  bureaux  in  the  ministry.  Its  members 
are  the  administration  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, and  leave  nothing  to  the  general  but  the 
command  of  the  troops.  At  length  they  give 
orders  to  General  Wrobleski  ;  they  try  to  lay 
their  hands  on  the  paymastership  of  the  National 
Guard  and  the  general  disbursements.  They  send 
their  instructions  to  Jourde,  who  at  once  goes  to 
the  Commune,  and  declares  he  will  not  submit. 
But  the  Committee  is  the  strongest,  and  it  forces 
every  one  to  capitulate,  even  the  Commune,  even 
the  Committee  of  Public  Welfare,  formed  especially 
to  counterbalance  the  all-pervading  power  of  the 
Central  Committee.  On  the  18th  May  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Welfare  had  published  the  follow- 
ing threat,  which  served  in  the  end  to  show  its 
impotence  : — ■ 


THE    COMMUNE.  471 

"  The  orders  given  by  the  Committee  of 
Public  Welfare  have  not  been  obeyed,  because 
such  and  such  signatures  did  not  accompany 
them. 

"  The  Committee  cautions  officers  of  all  ranks, 
belonging  to  whatever  corps,  as  also  all  citizens, 
that  a  refusal  to  carry  out  any  order  of  theirs  will 
entail  the  summoning  of  the  culprit  before  the 
court-martial  under  a  charge  of  high  treason. 

"  Hôtel  de  Ville,  28  Floréal,  Year  79. 
"  The  Committee  of  Public  Welfare, 
*'  Arnaud,  Billiokay,  Eudes,  F.  Gambon, 
G.  Ranvier." 

The  Central  Committee,  directly  attacked, 
obliges  the  Commune  to  send  delegates,  or 
rather  ambassadors  to  it  on  the  next  day.  It 
signs  a  proclamation  together  with  these  delegates. 
"  There  is  said  to  be  a  struggle  between  the  Central 
Committee  and  the  Commune.  This  is  a  falsehood 
emanating  from  the  reactionaries." 

New  rules  are  made  that  very  day  for  the 
election  and  functions  of  the  delegates  of  com- 
panies, of  battalions,  and  of  legions.  It  is  declared 
that  the  Central  Committee  is  preparing  the 
means  of  utilizing  all  the  resources,  all  the  moral 
and  revolutionary  forces  of  the  federation.  "  All 
the  clubs  or  groups  of  the  federation  are  about 
to  receive  precise   instructions,    regulating  their 


472  THE    GOVERNMENT    OP   M.    THIERS. 

proper  functions,  and  establishing  the  necessary 
relations  between  them  and  the  Central  Committee. 

The  Commune  never  ceases  making  claims 
and  submission.  It  collapsed  on  the  23rd  May, 
and  the  Central  Committee  officially  assumed 
authority.  The  secret  of  its  strength  is  in  one 
word;  it  was  organized.     The  Commune  was  not. 

Nothing  can  be  more  lamentable  than  the 
history  of  that  unlucky  assembly.  It  gave  its 
name  to  the  revolution,  it  assumed  every  responsi- 
bility, and  it  was  constantly  at  the  mercy  of  its 
own  generals  and  of  the  Central  Committee.  It 
passed  its  time  in  looking  for  itself,  in  making 
and  unmaking  Governments.  The  electors  that 
had  elected  it  were  convoked,  in  violation  of 
every  law,  by  the  Central  Committee,  which 
derived  its  own  power  from  the  insurrection. 

The  election,  which  was  nullified  by  its  origin, 
was  not  even  regular  in  its  form.  It  was 
solemnly  declared  that  ninety-two  were  elected, 
but  only  by  admitting  as  elected  five  candidates 
who  had  not  votes  equal  to  an  eighth  of  the 
number  of  inscribed  members.  The  same  thing 
happened  in  April  ;  in  consequence  of  death, 
resignations,  and  double  elections,  there  were 
thirty-one  members  to  be  elected;  twenty-one 
candidates  only  were  declared  eligible,  and,  of 
these,  ten  had  not  obtained  the  eighth  exacted  by 


THE   COMMUNE.  473 

law.  Rogeard  and  Briosne  refused  to  accept, 
and  a  third,  Menotti  Garibaldi,  never  took  his 
seat  and  never  wrote. 

One  of  the  candidates  who  consented  to  take 
his  seat  had  only  obtained  1000  votes  ;  in  short, 
the  fifth  part  only  of  the  electors  had  taken  part 
in  the  voting.  This  result  did  not  appear  in  the 
Officiel  until  the  20th  April.  The  resignations  were 
very  numerous,  sixteen  immediately  after  the  26th 
March  ;  five  from  the  1  st  to  the  6th  April  ;  three 
after  the  election  of  the  16th.  Amongst  the 
resignations  were  those  of  some  who,  like  M.  Ranc, 
would  have  accepted  a  Commune,  but  they  would 
not  accept  that  particular  one. 

This  assembly,  so  called,  never  arrived  at 
having  a  compact  and  homogeneous  majority. 
It  included  socialists,  non-socialist  Jacobins, 
plagiarists  of  1793,  clubbists  who  did  not  even 
understand  what  was  in  question.  It  changed 
the  form  of  government  three  times  in  six  weeks, 
and  the  members  of  the  government  over  six 
times.  At  first  there  was  an  executive  commis- 
sion of  seven  members,  having  under  its  orders 
nine  delegates  or  ministers,  and  nine  ministerial 
commissions  ;  then  the  nine  delegates  themselves 
formed  the  government;  then  a  Committee  of 
Public  Welfare  was  inaugurated,  composed  of 
five  members,  with  the  full  powers  of  the  Com- 


474  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

mune,  even  that  of  dismissing  delegates.  To 
establish  this  dictatorship,  a  great  battle  in 
the  interior  of  the  Commune  itself  was  necessary. 
The  mere  name  was  terrible  ;  a  first  ballot, 
which  only  related  to  the  name,  gave  twenty- 
six  against  twenty-six.  The  voting  was  post- 
poned until  next  day,  1st  May.  Finally,  the 
name  of  "  Committee  of  Public  Welfare,"  was 
adopted  by  thirty- four  voters  against  twenty-eight, 
who  voted  for  the  title  of  Executive  Committee. 
The  whole  decree  commanded  forty-five  votes 
against  twenty- three.  Nine  days  later  the  re- 
signation of  the  members  was  exacted,  and  their 
successors  were  appointed. 

The  dissension  among  the  members  of  the 
Commune  on  this  question  of  dictation  was  so 
great  that  the  minority  insisted  on  "votes  motivés'* 
and  the  publication  in  full  of  the  debates  ;  very 
serious  resolutions  for  an  assembly  which  had 
only  consented  to  publish  the  reports  of  its 
sittings  under  pressure  of  public  opinion.  It 
was  thought  at  one  moment  that  the  Commune 
was  about  to  split  into  two  assemblies,  for  the 
members  of  the  minority  had  retired  into  their 
respective  municipalities  and  refused  to  return  to 
sit  at  the  Hôtel  do  Ville. 

The  Central  Committee  rejoiced.  The  dis- 
sentients had  prepared  a  declaration  which  was  to 
be  read  at  the  sitting  of  15th  May. 


THE    COMMUNE.  475 

The  Majority,  forewarned,  defeated  this  project 
by  staying  at  home,  which  rendered  the  sitting 
impossible. 

The  declaration  was  then  published  in  the 
papers,  as  it  became  necessary,  it  was  said,  to 
enlighten  public  opinion. 

"  Declaration. 

"  By  a  special  and  summary  vote,  the  Commune 
of  Paris  has  abdicated  its  power,  in  favour  of  a 
dictatorship  which  will  be  entitled  the  *  Committee 
of  Public  Welfare.' 

"  The  Majority  of  the  Commune  has  declared 
itself  irresponsible  by  this  vote  ;  and  has  aban- 
doned to  the  Committee  all  the  responsibilities  of 
our  situation. 

"  We,  thinking  otherwise,  claim  in  the  name  of 
the  suffrages  we  represent,  the  right  to  answer  for 
our  own  acts  to  our  electors,  without  sheltering 
ourselves  behind  a  supreme  dictation,  which  our 
mandate  neither  allows  us  to  accept  nor  to  re- 
cognize. 

"We  shall  no  longer,  therefore,  present  ourselves 
at  the  Assembly,  until  the  day  when  it  shall  con- 
stitute itself  a  Court  of  Justice  for  the  judgment 
of  one  of  its  members. 

"Devoted  toour  great  Communal  cause,  for  which 
so  many  of  our  citizens  die  daily,  we  retire  to  our, 
perhaps,  too-long  neglected  arrondissements.  Con- 
vinced besides  that  the  question  of  the  war  at  this 


476  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

moment  supersedes  every  other,  the  time  we  can 
spare  from  our  Municipal  functions  shall  be  spent 
amon2:st  our  brethren  of  the  National  Guard,  and 
we  will  take  our  part  in  the  strife."  This  decla- 
ration was  signed  by  twenty-one  members,  Ch. 
Beslay,  Jourde,  Theisz,  Lefrancais,  Eug.  Gérardin, 
Vermorel,  Clémence,  Andrieux,  Serrailler,  Longuet 
Arthur  Arnould,  Clément  Victor,  Avrial,  Ostyn, 
Frankel,  Pindy,  Arnould,  Vallès,  Tridon,  Varlin, 
Courbet.  This  project  of  dislocation,  the  con- 
sequences of  which  would  have  been  serious  for 
the  Commune  was  not  carried  out.  Some  members 
of  the  Minority  returned,  they  received  a  torrent 
of  abuse  and  gave  blow  for  blow,  all  the  rest 
followed  them.  A  sort  of  reconciliation  was  then 
patched  up. 

But  the  diversity  of  designs  and  temperaments 
had  broken  out  ;  there  were  in  the  Assembly 
Girondins  and  men  of  the  Mountain  ;  united 
action  was  impossible.  On  one  side  they  were 
for  some  moderation,  on  the  other  they  were 
impatient  for  the  end,  even  were  it  necessary 
to  repeat  the  expedients  of  the  Place  de  la 
Révolution. 

The  more  violent  had  already  declared  at 
different  times,  "  We  are  not  revolutionary 
enough  !  "  It  was  even,  as  we  have  seen,  to  ap- 
pease them  that  the  *'  moderates  "  had  voted  the 
decree  regarding  the  hostages. 


THE    COMMUNE.  477 


« 


Pass  the  decree  again,"  they  said  on  the 
Mountain  ;  "  provided  it  is  carried  out.  It  has  as 
yet  only  served  the  prisoners,  it  is  time  to  think  of 
the  interests  of  the  Revolution.  Let  them  shoot  ten 
hostages  forthwith,  five  with  all  due  parade  on  the 
Place  de  l'Hôtel  de  Ville,  the  other  five  at  the 
outposts." 

"  And  what  has  become  too,"  they  asked,  "  of  the 
decree  regarding  the  Column  ?  The  tactics  of 
the  *  moderates  '  are  too  transparent,  they  post- 
pone everything  that  they  may  prevent  everything. 
They  put  a  stop  to  these  reactionary  manoeuvres, 
when  they  inserted  *  immediately  '  in  the  decree 
for  the  razing  of  M.  Thiers'  house,  which  was 
obeyed.  The  violent  members  of  the  Commune 
did.  not  say,  like  Delescluze,  *  we  will  die  on  the 
ramparts,  or  on  the  steps  of  the  Hôtel  de  Ville,* 
but  '  we  will  be  buried  beneath  its  ruins.'  "  Some 
days  before  the  catastrophe  this  same  party 
requisitioned  petroleum. 

It  seems  that  men  like  Arthur  Arnould,  Ch.  Bes- 
lay,  Tridon,  Vaillant  Courbet,  Theisz,  Avrial, 
Jourde,  Babick,  and  Vermorel,  suffered  deeply 
from  falling  into  this  furnace.  Delescluze  was 
embittered  against  all  parties  and  all  men.  He 
had  no  repugnance  to  civil  war,  nor  to  dictator- 
ship, but  he  was  austere  in  his  life,  courageous, 
disinterested,  intelligent.  He  did  not  share  the 
anti-social  passions  of  his  confederates. 


478  THE   GOVEENMENT   OF   M.   THIEKS. 

He  accepted  the  direction  of  the  war  on  the 
9th  May,  he  a  journalist,  who  had  never  been 
anything  but  a  journaHst,  and  knew  less  than 
nothing  of  military  matters.  Did  he  think  him- 
self a  general  because  twenty-eight  years  before 
he  had  joined  the  expedition  of  "Eisquons-Tout"? 
Did  he,  like  the  fools  who  surrounded  him,  believe 
in  improvised  generals  ?  Did  he  yield  to  his  old 
hatred  to  "  militarism  "  ?  It  was  said  that  he  had 
bound  himself  to  follow  the  counsels  of  Rossel, 
and  that  he  consulted  him  secretly  to  the  last; 
and  this  is  possible,  nay  probable. 

Rossel,  who  had  petitioned  for  a  cell  at  Mazas, 
obtained  more,  they  ordered  him  before  a  Court- 
martial.  He  escaped  with  Ch.  Gérardin,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Commune,  who  had  been  made  •  his 
gaoler,  but  he  remained  hidden  in  Paris,  till  the 
end  of  the  siege — occupied  even  during  the 
conflict  at  the  barricades  in  quietly  writing  his 
memoirs. 

It  is  believed  that  Delescluze  was  in  the  secret, 
and  that  they  saw  each  other  daily.  Delescluze, 
even  with  Rossel  at  his  back,  was  none  the  less  an 
incompetent  War  Minister;  Rossel  was  certainly  a 
good  officer,  there  is  but  one  opinion  on  this  point 
even  in  the  army,  but  was  he  a  good  general  ? 
This  is  a  different  question.  His  ministry  was  re- 
markable ratlier  for  orders  and  remonstrances  than 
for  exploits.    After  all,  with  the  disorder  which  pre- 


THE    COMMUNE.  479 

vailed,  and  sucli  an  army,  tlie  greatest  proof  of 
mental  capacity  that  a  general  could  give  was  to 
resign.  He  did  this,  and  gave  the  reason  publicly. 
Assisted  or  not  by  him,  Delescluze  could  no  longer 
dream  of  victory,  but  only  of  a  making  a  good 
end.  Rossel  in  his  posthumous  papers  describes 
him  thus:  "Delescluze,  if  he  had  not  been  enfeebled 
by  age  and  ill-health,  might  have  been  the  man 
of  the  Kevolution.  He  marked  his  appointment 
to  the  Ministry  of  War  by  several  useful  measures, 
which  might  have  restored  order  in  the  govern- 
ment of  military  matters  ;  to  technicalities  he 
was  an  absolute  stranger.  It  likewise  does  not 
appear  that  he  was  a  good  administrator.  All 
things  considered,  he  was  a  worn-out  man. 
On  the  7th  March,  he  was  recovering  from  a 
fortnight's  illness  ;  a  long  exile  had  ruined  his 
health  ;  he  could  hardly  speak,  or  breathe  ;  he 
was  a  living  corpse.  His  acceptance  of  power 
was  the  sacrifice  of  the  miserable  remainder  of  his 
life;  yet  he  accepted  it  from  the  majority  of  the 
Commune  of  which  he  did  not  form  a  part,  but 
which  he  dominated  by  his  former  greatness; 
this  was  an  impossible  rôle,  doomed  beforehand, 
and  in  which  he  was  not  supported. 

He  fell  behind  a  barricade,  but  he  had  already 
fallen  under  his  task.  His  corpse  was  found, 
disfigured   by    a   frightful    wound    in    the    neck, 


480  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF  M.   THIERS. 

caused  by  the  falling  of  a  beam  from  a  neigbbour- 
ing  house.  His  enemies  found  words  with  which 
to  insult  him  even  in  death." 

Delescluze,  who  had  been  elected  on  the  9th  May 
a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Welfare 
(the  last  of  five),  resigned,  that  he  might  devote 
himself  entirely  to  the  defence.  He  had  suc- 
ceeded Rossel,  May  10th.  He  was  the  last  dele- 
gate to  the  Ministry  of  War.  It  was  during  this 
final  period  of  the  siege  that  the  house  of  M.  Thiers 
was  razed  to  the  ground  (May  10th)  ;  also  that 
the  measure  relative  to  the  cards  of  identity, 
adjourned  the  first  time,  was  carried  (May  14th), 
that  the  Column  of  the  Place  Vendôme  was  pulled 
down  (May  16tli),  that  the  Commune  decreed  the 
putting  into  immediate  exeoution  of  the  decree 
regarding  the  hostages  (May  17th),  that  the  last 
independent  journals  were  suppressed  (May  11th 
and  18th). 

The  army  of  Versailles  advanced  slowly  but 
surely;  the  Commune,  driven  to  bay,  redoubled  its 
fury.  Towards  the  middle  of  May,  the  news  was 
spread  through  Paris  that  M.  Thiers  was  bom- 
barding the  city.  It  had  been  counted  a  crime 
in  the  Prussians  under  the  first  siesie  to  have 
bombarded  Paris.  M.  Thiers  himself  had  held  up 
the  King  of  Naples  to  the  indignation  of  Europe, 
for   bombarding    his    capital   in   revolt.     For    a 


THE   COMMUNE.  481 

week  it  was  the  theme  of  all  the  speechifiers  in 
the  Commune  and  at  the  Clubs. 

But  M.  Thiers  was  not  bombarding  Paris  ;  he 
was  bombarding  the  ramparts  of  Paris  at  the  two 
points  where  he  meant  to  make  the  assault,  at 
Neuilly  and  at  Auteuil  ;  the  surrounding  districts 
were  laid  waste;  such  is  the  hard  necessity  of 
war. 

Delescluze  on  his  side  bombarded  Neuilly  and 
Boulogne.  "  Colonel  Henry  will  immediately 
set  up  a  battery  of  thirty  mortars  of  the  heaviest 
calibre  in  the  railway  cutting,  and  on  the  flank 
of  bastions  59,  60,  61,  and  62.  These  mortars 
are  intended  to  bombard  Neuilly  and  Boulogne, 
and  also  the  bridges  of  boats." 

Neither  M.  Thiers  nor  M.  Delescluze  could 
make  war  without  firing  guns. 

Against  M.  Thiers  a  still  more  odious  accusation 
was  brought;  he  was  accused  of  setting  fire  to 
the  cartridge-factory  in  the  Avenue  Rapp.  At 
the  top  of  the  Officiel  of  May  18th  was  the 
following  : — 

"  The  Government  of  Versailles  has  soiled  its 
hands  with  a  new  crime,  the  most  horrible  and 
most  cowardly  of  all.  Its  agents  have  set  fire  to 
the  cartridge-factory  of  the  Avenue  Rapp,  and 
brought  about  a  frightful  explosion. 

"  The  victims  are  estimated  at  over  one 
VOL.  I.  I  i 


482  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    M.    THIEES. 

hundred,  some  women  and  a  child  at  tlie  breast 
liave  been  blown  to  fragments. 

"  Four  of  the  incendiaries  are  in  the  hands  of 
the  '  Sûreté  Générale.' 

"  The  Committee  of  Public  Welfare,  Arnaud, 
Billioray,  Eudes,  Gambon,  Ranvier." 

There  could  not  be  "  over  a  hundred  victims," 
since  the  cartridge-factory  only  employed  sixteen 
men  and  fourteen  women,  and  M.  Thiers  could  not 
have  set  fire  to  it,  because  the  act  would  have  been 
at  once  a  crime  and  a  blunder.  Delescluze  did 
not  hesitate  to  repeat  this  lie. 

"  Yesterday  you  learnt  the  atrocity  committed 
within  our  walls  by  our  infamous  enemies;  and 
your  patriotic  hearts  throbbed  with  indignation 
against  the  offenders.  The  number  of  the  victims 
is  far  below  what  we  at  first  feared  ;  fifty  wounded, 
for  the  most  part  slightly  ;  this  is  all  that  the  men 
of  Versailles  will  have  gained." 

Delescluze  was  not  sufiiciently  blinded  by  hate 
to  believe  that  "the  men  of  Versailles"  had 
plotted  the  burning  of  a  manufactory.  He  took 
hold  of  this  calumny  as  of  a  weapon,  and  strove 
to  the  last  to  defame  the  Government  which  was 
destined  to  conquer  him.  M.  Thiers  did  not 
burn  the  manufactories,  he  did  not  bombard 
Paris  ;  but  he  took  his  measures  to  put  an  end, 
within  the  mouth,  to  the  civil  war.     The  majority 


THE   COMMUNE.  483 

of  the  Assembly,  more  and  more  irritated  and  im- 
patient, constrained  him  to  this.  The  Prussians 
talked  of  taking  Paris  themselves,  if  the  Govern- 
ment did  not  end  the  matter.  Another  more 
pressing  motive  was  the  situation  of  France, 
whose  resources  were  exhausted,  and  whose 
activity  was  repressed  by  this  prolonged  and 
ruinous  war. 

How  could  the  ransom  be  paid  ;  how  could 
the  country  revive,  if  industry  and  commerce 
were  not  restored  ?  And  how  restore  them  except 
by  peace  ;  and  how  attain  peace  except  by 
victory  ?  M.  Thiers,  urged  by  the  most  pressing 
necessity,  resolved  to  make  the  assault,  and  rained 
shot  upon  the  two  points  where  the  breach  was 
to  be  made. 

This  was  not  expected  before  the  24th.  The 
obligation  to  assault,  which  was  fatally  incumbent 
upon  M.  Thiers,  made  him  tremble.  Not  only 
would  the  assault  be  sanguinary  in  itself,  but  how 
were  the  soldiers  to  be  kept  within  bounds  after 
the  victory,  if  they  entered  by  the  breach,  that  is 
to  say  at  the  price  of  the  greatest  peril  and  over 
the  bodies  of  the  Federals.  Of  all  the  difficulties 
the  human  will  can  attempt  to  overcome,  perhaps 
the  greatest  is  to  excite  the  soldier  to  the  point  of 
fury  that  will  make  him  rush  to  the  assault,  and 
to  restore  him  to  self-restraint  when  he  has  scaled 

I  i  2 


éS4s  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

the  wall.  Before  resolving  to  spill  Frencli  blood 
for  hours,  and  to  create  lasting  resentment  and 
vengeance  between  the  army  and  the  population, 
M.  Thiers  resolved  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  get 
one  gate  opened  to  him  ;  and  in  the  first 
place,  to  address  the  people  in  the  language  of 
common  sense,  moderation,  and  patriotism.  He 
sent  out  on  the  8th  May  the  following  proclama- 
tion, which  he  managed  to  circulate  largely  among 
the  National  Guard,  and  to  which  the  Commune 
replied  by  pulling  down  his  house  in  the  Place 
St.  Georges  : — 

"  The  Government  of  the  French  Republic  to 
the  Parisians. 

"  France,  freely  consulted  by  universal  suffrage, 
has  elected  a  government  which  is  the  only  legal 
one  ;  the  only  one  that  can  command  obedience 
if  universal  suffrage  is  not  an  empty  word. 

"  This  Government  has  given  you  the  same 
rights  as  those  enjoyed  by  Lyons,  Marseilles, 
Toulouse,  and  Bordeaux  ;  and,  except  by  falsehood 
to  the  principles  of  equality,  you  cannot  demand 
more  rights  than  are  possessed  by  the  other  cities 
of  our  country. 

"In  presence  of  this  Government  the  Com- 
mune— that  is  to  say  the  minority  which  oppresses 
you,  and  which  presumes  to  hoist  the  in- 
famous red  flag — has  the  assurance  to  impose  its 


THE    COMMUNE.  485 

will  upon  France.  By  its  works  you  will  be 
able  to  judge  of  tlie  régime  to  wbicli  it  would 
destine  you. 

"  It  violates  property,  imprisons  citizens  to  make 
hostages  of  them,  turns  your  streets  and  your 
public  places,  where  once  was  displayed  the 
commerce  of  the  world,  into  deserts  ;  suspends 
labour  in  Paris,  paralyzes  it  throughout  France  ; 
arrests  the  prosperity  which  was  about  to  revive, 
retards  the  evacuation  of  territory  by  the 
Germans,  and  exposes  you  to  a  fresh  attack  on 
their  part,  which  they  are  prepared  to  execute 
without  mercy,  unless  we  come  and  suppress  the 
insuiTection  ourselves. 

"We  have  listened  to  all  the  denutations 
which  have  been  sent  to  us,  and  not  one  has 
offered  a  condition  that  was  not  the  abasement 
of  the  national  sovereignty  before  the  revolt,  and 
the  sacrifice  of  every  liberty  and  every  interest. 
"We  have  repeated  to  these  deputations  that 
we  will  spare  the  lives  of  those  who  laid  down 
their  arms,  and  continue  the  subsidy  to  needy 
workmen. 

"We  have  promised  this,  and  we  promise  it 
again  ;  but  this  insurrection  must  cease,  for 
France  must  perish  if  it  be  prolonged. 

"  The  Government  that  speaks  to  you  would 
have  desired  that  you  should  have  freed  your- 


486  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

selves  from  the  tyrants  wlio  have  made  sport 
of  your  liberties  and  your  lives.  Since  you 
cannot  do  this,  they  must  make  it  their  own 
business,  and  it  is  for  this  that  the  Government 
has  brought  together  under  your  walls  an  army 
which  comes  at  the  cost  of  its  blood,  not  to 
conquer  but  to  dehver  you. 

"  Up  to  the  present  time  the  attack  has  been 
limited  to  the  outworks  ;  the  moment  has  now 
come  when  to  shorten  your  sufferings  the  walls 
must  be  attacked. 

"  Paris  will  not  be  bombarded,  as  the  people  of 
the  Commune  and  the  Committee  of  Public  Welfare 
will  not  fail  to  say  was  intended.  A  bombard- 
ment menaces  the  safety  of  a  whole  town,  renders 
it  uninhabitable,  and  has  no  other  aim  than 
to  intimidate  the  citizens  and  to  compel  them  to 
a  capitulation.  The  Government  will  fire  no 
cannon,  except  to  force  one  of  your  gates,  and 
will  make  every  effort  to  limit  this  war  of  which 
it  is  not  the  author  to  the  point  of  attack. 

"  The  Government  is  aware,  had  you  not 
made  it  known,  from  many  sources,  that  as  soon  as 
the  soldiers  have  entered  the  walls,  you  will  rally 
round  the  national  flag,  and  assist  our  gallant 
army  in  the  destruction  of  a  sanguinary  and  cruel 
tyranny. 

"  It   depends    upon    yourselves    to   avert   the 


THE    COMMUNE.  487 

disasters  inseparable  from  an  assault.  You  are  a 
hundred  times  more  numerous  than  the  followers 
of  the  Commune.  Join,  then,  and  in  a  body  open 
to  us  the  gates  which  they  have  closed  against 
law,  against  order,  against  your  own  prosperity 
and  that  of  France. 

*'  The  gates  once  open  the  guns  will  be  silenced  ; 
quiet,  order,  abundance,  peace,  will  return  within 
your  walls  ;  the  Germans  will  evacuate  your 
territory,  and  the  traces  of  your  misfortunes  will 
rapidly  disappear. 

"  But  if  you  do  not  act,  the  Government  will  be 
obliged  to  take  the  surest  and  promptest  measures 
for  your  deliverance.  It  owes  this  to  you,  but 
it  owes  it  above  all  to  France,  because  the  evils 
that  weigh  on  you  weigh  on  her,  the  stoppage 
of  business  that  ruins  you  extends  to  and  equally 
ruins  her,  because  she  has  the  right  to  be  saved, 
if  you  do  not  know  how  to  save  yourselves. 

"  Parisians,  think  seriously  ;  in  a  very  few 
days  we  shall  be  in  Paris.  France  will  have  an  end 
of  civil  war.  She  will,  she  ought,  she  can.  She 
comes  to  deliver  you,  you  can  contribute  to  your 
own  safety  by  rendering  the  assault  needless,  and 
by  once  more  taking  your  place  amongst  3'our 
brethren." 

While  adjuring  the  Parisians  to  succour  them- 
selves,  M.    Thiers    sent   into   Paris    in    disguise 


488  THE    GOVERNMENT    OF   M.    THIERS. 

soldiers  who  were  to  confer  with  their  old  com- 
rades, and  men  of  spirit  who,  at  the  risk  of  losing 
their  lives,  consented  to  negotiate  with  the  insur- 
rectionary generals.  Some  citizens  who  had  re- 
mained in  Paris,  hating  the  Commune,  and  pas- 
sionately desiring  an  end  of  this  parricidal 
struggle,  had  succeeded  in  getting  to  Versailles 
by  clearing  the  outposts  ;  they  spoke  of  officers 
of  the  National  Guard  who  were  disposed  to  open 
the  gates,  of  citizens  ready  to  fight  the  Federals 
within,  while  the  army  should  approach  the  ram- 
parts, and  thus  catch  them  between  two  fires. 
Some  of  these  intermediaries  were  only  intriguers; 
others,  for  the  most  part  well-intentioned,  but 
ill-informed,  brought  nothing  but  equivocal  pro- 
mises and  impossible  projects. 

There  were,  however,  in  Paris,  some  courageous 
and  resolute  enemies  of  the  Commune.  Admiral 
Saisset  had  for  some  days  had  in  readiness  a  little 
army  of  20,000  men.  He  had  disbanded  it  on 
the  25th  March,  on  the  eve  of  the  Communal 
elections  ;  but  several  of  these  good  citizens  had 
remained  secretly  affiliated  to  and  in  correspond- 
ence with  their  chiefs,  who  themselves  corre- 
sponded with  Versailles  :  we  may  name  Colonel 
Charpentier,  Colonels  Domalain  and  De  Beaufort, 
Commandants  Bonne,  Dequevauvilliers,  Polard, 
Durouchoux,  Dumay,  Galimard,  and  Roulez. 


THE   COMMUNE.  489 

M.  Lepage,  author  of  a  history  of  the  Commune 
of  Paris,  says,  that  M.  Roulez  made  thirty-four 
expeditions  from  Paris  to  Versailles,  between  the 
2nd  April  and  the  19th  May.  M.  Barthélémy  de 
Saint-Hilaire,  who  made  it  his  business  to  mislead 
schemers  and  foolish  persons,  thought  the  proposal 
of  M.  Roulez  serious  enough  to  make  it  desirable 
to  put  him  in  direct  correspondence  with  M. 
Thiers.  It  concerned  the  delivering  up  of  a  gate. 
M.  Thiers,  trusting  the  individual,  but  not  confident 
as  to  the  enterprise,  nevertheless  took  measures  so 
as  to  arrive  at  the  appointed  time  at  the  foot  of 
the  rampart.  He  went  himself  to  the  trenches, 
and  spent  the  night  there,  wishing  to  share  this 
great  peril  with  the  army,  and  to  trust  nothing  to 
chance.  B;it  the  Delegate  of  War  had  suspicions  ; 
the  rotation  of  the  battalions  was  altered.  M. 
Thiers  had  to  retire  after  several  hours  of  waiting, 
giving  some  pretext  to  the  detachment  to  avoid 
taking  them  into  confidence.  This  attempt  was 
repeated  twice.  One  of  the  correspondents  of 
M.  Thiers,  M.  Lasnier,  was  arrested  on  entering 
his  house  in  the  Rue  de  Maubeuge.  Two  large 
chests,  filled  with  tricoloured  badges,  were  found 
there  and  seized.  It  appeared  later  that  M. 
Charpentier  was  on  the  point  of  being  arrested 
when  the  troops  entered  Paris. 

The  negotiations  with    the  iusurgent  generals 


490       THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

were  active  enough,  but  very  diflBcult  ;  they 
could  only  be  carried  on  through  third  parties  ; 
the  terrible  danger  incurred  by  the  generals 
prevented  their  writing,  so  that  there  were  then 
no  guarantees,  and  to  this  day  there  are  no 
proofs. 

Not  a  day  passed  that  M.  Thiers  and  M.  Picard 
did  not  give  an  account  to  the  Council  of  Ministers 
of  the  proposals  which  had  been  made  to  them. 
The  generals,  who  felt  they  were  lost,  should  have 
been  satisfied  with  a  safe-conduct  to  escape  to 
America  ;  they  demanded  instead,  or  caused  to  be 
demanded  in  their  names,  enormous  sums.  M. 
Lissagaray  relates  that  Cluseret  boasted  one  day  to 
Delescluze  of  having  refused  a  million,  and  that 
Delescluze  turned  his  back  on  him.  If  the  offer 
was  made,  it  was  not  by  an  authorized  agent  of 
the  Government.  We  shall  mention  one  of  these 
attempts  because  it  had  tragical  results.  M. 
Georges  Vaysset  was  in  communication  with 
Dombrowski's  secretary.  The  secretary,  on  the 
supposed  authority  of  his  chief,  demanded  several 
safe-conducts  and  a  sum  of  500,000  francs.  M. 
Yaysset  saw  M.  Barthélémy  de  Saint-Hilaire  more 
than  once,  but  he  refused  to  give  the  money 
without  some  pledge  for  the  veracity  of  the  secre- 
tary and  the  fidelity  of  the  general.  A  day  was 
fixed  with  the  secretary,  and  a  place  of  meeting 


THE    COMMUNE.  491 

assigned  near  St.  Denis.  M.  Georges  Vaysset  went 
there  with  his  friend  M.  Planât,  formerly  a  deputy  of 
the  opposition  at  the  Corps  Législatif,  who  wished 
to  take  his  share  of  exertion  and  peril.  They 
found  only  agents  of  the  Commune.  M.  Planât 
managed  to  escape.  Georges  Vaysset  was  taken 
to  the  depot  of  the  Prefecture,  and  shot  three 
days  later. 

The  Committee  of  Public  Welfare  summoned 
Dombrowski.  Guilty  or  not,  the  rendezvous 
given  by  his  secretary  was  undeniable.  Other 
generals  had  been  arrested  for  much  less.  M. 
Lissagaray,  who  was  that  day  at  the  Hôtel  de  Ville, 
relates  the  interview  thus  in  his  "  Huit  Journées 
de  Mai  derrière  les  Barricades." 

"  Brought  before  the  Committee,  with  crossed 
arms  and  a  glance  which  included  every  one 
present,  he  exclaimed  with  fury, — 

*"  It  seems  I  am  accused  of  treachery.* 

"  No  one  replied.  A  member  of  the  Com- 
mune, Dereure,  broke  the  silence. 

"  '  If  Dombrowski  is  a  traitor,  then  am  I  also  a 
traitor.     I  answer  for  him  as  for  myself.'  " 

They  let  Dombrowski  depart.  He  seated  himself 
at  the  officers'  table  and  dined  with  them.  After 
the  repast  he  walked  round  the  room  and  shook  the 
hand  of  each  one  in  silence.  They  all  knew  he 
was  going  to  get  himself  killed." 


492       THE  GOVERNMENT  OP  M.  THIERS. 

The  event  of  21st  May  rendered  all  negotiations 
witli  the  generals  unnecessary.  The  battalion 
charged  on  that  day  with  the  keeping  of  the  Porte 
de  St.  Cloud,  deserted  its  post.  Was  this  mutiny, 
or  excess  of  confidence,  or  simply  disorder  ?  It  is 
certain  that  the  fire  of  our  batteries  rendered  the 
ramparts  uninhabitable.  Whatever  the  cause,  the 
battalion  disappeared.  A  brave  citizen, M.  Ducatel, 
seeing  that  the  gate  was  undefended,  scaled  the 
rampart,  tied  a  white  handkerchief  to  the  end  of 
his  cane,  and  made  the  situation  known  to  an 
ofiicer  named  Treves,  who  hastened  to  him  on 
seeing  his  signal.  Paris  owes  it  to  M.  Ducatel 
that  it  was  not  taken  by  assault.  France  and 
the  army  owe  to  him  a  prompter  solution  of  the 
crisis.  The  breach  was  still  insufficient,  and 
Marshal  MacMahon  asked  three  or  four  days  to 
make  it  more  practicable.  Captain  Treves  was 
the  first  to  scale  the  fortified  wall  with  Sergeant 
Coûtant  of  the  91st  foot,  who  had  followed  him. 
Captain  Treves  reconnoitred  the  position,  in 
advance  of  the  movement  of  the  first  columns  of 
the  army.  The  37th  foot  entered  first,  almost  all 
Verge's  division  followed.  At  half  past-five, 
General  Douai's  troops  had  taken  the  Porte 
d'Auteuil,  driving  before  them  the  Federal 
bataillons  that  had  gathered  at  this  point. 

At  the  same  moment  General  Vinoy  entered 


THE    COMMUNE.  493 

Paris  with  Admiral  Pothiiau,  Minister  of  Marine, 
and  they  were  witnesses  of  this  short  but  sharp 
engagement. 

General  Vinoy  gave  some  orders  and  returned 
to  Versailles,  whence  he  brought  the  Far  on  and 
Bruat  divisions,  and  with  them  re-entered  Paris  at 
two  in  the  morning.  The  army  had  carried 
the  barricade  on  the  Quai  de  Grenelle  during  the 
evening,  and  established  themselves  on  the  heights 
of  the  Trocadero  and  the  Arc  de  l'Étoile,  where 
the  insurgents  had  thrown  up  works,  which 
they  abandoned  in  the  agitation  of  this  surprise. 
They  fled  by  the  Avenue  of  the  Champs  Elysees. 
Some  few  tried  to  drag  away  the  guns,  but  had 
to  desert  them.  The  guns  were  seized,  and  not  a 
moment  was  lost  before  they  were  set  in  battery 
against  the  Federals. 

During  this  time  the  columns  of  infantry,  fol- 
lowing the  line  of  the  viaduct,  opened  the  south 
gates  to  General  de  Cissey.  He  entered  by  the 
Porte  de  Sèvres  at  the  approach  to  Porte  d'Issy, 
left  bank,  took  possession  of  Grenelle  and  Yaugi- 
rard,  and  marched  upon  the  École  Militaire,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  22nd  at  dawn  of  day. 

The  greater  part  of  Paris  went  to  sleep  on  the 
night  of  the  21st  without  hearing  the  news  of  the 
entry  of  the  troops.  Those  who  heard  refused  to 
believe  it.     The  battalions  of  Federals,  scattered 


494  THE    GOVERNMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

by  the  army,  had  announced  in  the  quarters  to 
which  they  had  retired,  that  the  walls  were  cleared, 
but  their  tale  was  received  with  incredulity;  it 
was  believed  to  be  a  panic.  Delescluze  revised 
and  forwarded  to  the  Committee  of  Public  "Wel- 
fare the  following  note.  It  was  communicated  to 
the  journals  ;  he  withdrew  it  wherever  he  could, 
but  it  appeared  notwithstanding  on  the  Monday 
morning  in  the  Cri  du  Peuple. 

"  At  the  Observatory  of  the  Arc  de  Triomphe 
the  entry  of  the  Versailles  army  is  denied. 
Nothing  resembling  it  is  to  be  seen.  Com- 
mandant Renard,  of  the  Section,  who  has  just 
left  me,  afiBrms  that  there  has  merely  been  a 
panic,  that  the  Porte  d'Auteuil  has  not  been 
forced  ;  that  if  any  Yersaillais  have  presented 
themselves,  they  have  been  repulsed.  I  have 
sent  for  eleven  battalions  of  reinforcements,  and 
as  many  staff-officers,  who  are  not  to  leave  them 
till  they  are  marched  to  the  posts  they  are  intended 
to  occupy." 

The  Delegate  of  War  was  not  long  in  receiving 
news  which  put  an  end  to  his  optimism.  He  at 
once  gave  orders  for  street-fighting  and  barri- 
cades. Paris  was  lost,  but  not  yet  taken. 
Greek  fire,  mines,  bonfires,  immnise  barricades 
with  ditches  in  front,  and  scientifically  con- 
structed, sanguinary  engagements  between  house 


THE    COMMUNE.  495 

and  house,  this  is  what  the  army  would  have  to 
contend  with.  It  would  take  a  full  week.  All 
the  horrors  of  the  cruellest  sieges  of  which 
history  has  kept  a  record  were  compressed  into 
that  short  space  of  time. 

That  night  Delescluze  wrote  his  last  proclama- 
tion ;  it  appeared  on  Monday  morning  in  the 
Journal  Officiel^  and  was  placarded  on  all  sides. 

"  To  the  People  of  Paris. 
"  To  the  National  Guard. 

"  Enough  of  militarism  !  No  more  gold-laced 
Staff-ofiScers. 

"  Room  for  the  people,  the  bare-armed  com- 
batants ! 

"  The  hour  of  the  Revolutionary  "War  has 
struck.  The  people  know  nothing  of  scientific 
manoeuvres,  but  when  they  have  muskets  in  their 
hands  and  pavements  under  foot,  they  fear  not 
the  strategy  of  the  monarchist  army. 

"  To  arms  !  citizens  !     To  arms  ! 

"  It  means,  and  you  know  it,  to  conquer  or  to 
fall  into  the  pitiless  hands  of  the  reactionaries  and 
the  clericals  of  Versailles,  of  those  wretches  who 
have  intentionally  delivered  up  France  to  the 
Prussians,  and  who  will  make  you  pay  the  ransom 
of  their  treachery  ! 

*'  If  you  would  not  have  all  the  generous 
blood  which  has  been  poured  like  water  for  the  last 


496       THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

six  weeks  wasted,  if  you  would  live  with  freedom 
and  equality  in  France,  if  you  would  spare  your 
cliildren  your  own  miseries  and  griefs,  you  will 
rise  as  one  man,  and,  before  your  formidable  resis- 
tance, tlie  enemy,  who  flatter  themselves  that  they 
will  crush  you  once  more  beneath  the  yoke,  shall 
have  nothing  but  the  shame  of  the  useless  crimes 
of  the  last  two  months. 

"  Citizens,  your  representatives  will  fight  and 
die  with  you  if  needful,  but  in  the  name  of  this 
glorious  France,  the  mother  of  all  popular  revolu- 
tions, the  permanent  centre  of  those  ideas  of  justice 
and  solidarity  which  ought  to  be,  and  will  be,  the 
laws  of  the  world,  march  upon  the  enemy,  and  let 
your  revolutionary  energy  show  them  that  Paris 
may  be  sold,  but  neither  conquered  nor  given 
up  ! 

"  The  Commune  counts  upon  you.  Count  upon 
the  Commune  ! 

"  The  Committee  of  Public  Welfare. 

"  The  Delegate  of  War, 

"  Delescluze." 

On  that  same  day  the  Commune  held  its  last 
sitting  at  the  Hôtel  de  Ville.  The  few  members 
present  were  disheartened. 

Felix  Pyat  showed  that  defeat  was  inevitable, 
and  spoke  of  treating  with  Versailles. 

The  matter  was  not  taken  up. 


THE    COMMUNE.  497 

They  distrusted  one  another.  They  feared 
Versailles,  and  they  feared  the  people,  who  would 
have  cried  "  Treason." 

They  saw  death  on  all  sides,  and  consulted 
the  Committee  of  Public  Welfare  respecting  the 
measures  to  be  taken.  Its  members  were  power- 
less ;  they  thought  to  make  use  of  the  hostages  ^ 
to  save  their  own  lives,  and  Billioray,  in  the  name 
of  his  colleagues,  had  broached  that  notion  at  the 
Union  of  Syndicates  on  the  preceding  Thursday. 
The  members  of  the  Committee  present  at  the 
sitting  of  the  22nd  did  not  associate  themselves 
with  the  insinuations  of  Felix  Pyat.  They  let 
themselves  be  charged  with  all  the  authority  and 
all  the  responsibility,  without  pronouncing  a 
word. 

'No  one  proposed  any  collective  plan.  The  few 
energetic  men  present  comprehended  that  the 
Assembly  could  do  nothing  more,  either  for  the 
cause  or  for  their  own  good.  They  dispersed, 
some  to  avenge  themselves,  or  to  go  and  fight, 
others  to  hide  or  to  fly. 

Delescluze,  resolved  still  to  struggle,  because  he 
was  resolved  to  die,  established  himself  at  the 
Mairie  of  the  11th  arrondissement,  which  he 
made  his  head-quarters.  The  Hôtel  de  Ville  had 
no  sooner  been  evacuated  by  the  Commune,  than 
the  Committee  installed  itself  there.     More  than 

VOL.  I.  K  k 


498  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

one  member  of  the  Committee,  as  well  as  of  the 
Commune,  knew  that  in  a  couple  of  days  the 
Hôtel  de  Ville  of  Paris  would  be  nothing  but  a 
ruin;  but  so  long  as  it  stood  erect  it  was  the 
official  and  historical  seat  of  the  revolutionary 
Government,  and  the  Committee  was  anxious  to 
date  its  proclamation  from  the  Hôtel  de  Ville, 
to  show  that  it  had  resumed  possession  of  power, 
and  sheltered  itself  no  longer  behind  those  two 
impostures,  the  Commune  and  the  Committee 
of  Public  Welfare. 

"  Let  Paris  bristle  with  barricades,  and  from 
behind  those  improvised  ramparts  send  forth  her 
war-cry  to  the  enemy,  a  cry  of  defiance,  a  cry 
of  pride,  but  likewise  a  cry  of  victory  ;  for  Paris 
with  her  barricades  is  impregnable."  High  sound- 
ing words  which  ill  concealed  a  great  and  profound 
disaster  !  The  Central  Committee  had  not,  any 
more  than  the  Commune,  a  settled  plan  of  defence. 

Neither  was  capable  of  anything  more  now 
than  proclamations  and  incendiarism.  While  the 
Committee  declared  Paris  impregnable,  the  army 
was  pursuing  a  happily-conceived  plan  for 
crushing  the  insurrection  while  sacrificing  as 
few  lives  as  possible.  The  troops  advanced  along 
the  two  banks,  strengthening  themselves  in  the 
positions  they  took,  and  laying  hands  on  all  the 
fire-arms  they  found  in  the  houses.      Thus  was 


THE    COMMUNE.  499 

effected  the  disarming  of  tlie  National  Guard, 
wliicli  had  been  deemed  impossible.  They  took 
over  350,000  muskets.  On  the  Monday  evening 
the  army  occupied  Batignolles,  the  Saint  Lazare 
Station,  and  the  Palais  d'Industrie  on  the  right;  on 
the  left  the  Corps-Législatif,  the  Western  Railway 
Station,  the  Invalides,  and  Vaugirard. 

The  Committee  of  Public  Welfare  addressed 
a  proclamation  to  the  soldiers  on  the  23rd.  But 
how  far  were  they  now  from  the  18th  of  March  ! 

"  Soldiers  of  the  army  of  Versailles. 

"  The  people  of  Paris  will  never  believe  that 
you  could  direct  your  arms  against  them;  when 
you  are  breast  to  breast,  your  hands  will  recoil 
from  an  act  which  would  be  fratricide.  Like 
ourselves  you  belong  to  the  proletariat;  like  us 
you  are  interested  in  depriving  these  conspiring 
monarchists  of  the  right  to  drink  your  blood,  as 
they  live  by  your  sweat. 

"  What  you  did  on  the  18th  of  March  you  will 
do  again,  and  the  people  will  be  spared  the  pain 
of  fighting  with  men  whom  they  look  upon  as 
brothers,  and  whom  they  would  gladly  see  sitting 
with  them  at  the  civic  banquet  of  liberty  and 
equality. 

"  Come  to  us,  brothers  !  come  to  us  !  our  arms 
are  open  to  you  ! 

"  The  Committee  of  Public  Welfare." 
K  k  2 


500  THE    GOVEENMENT  OF   M.   THIERS. 

Tlie  Committee  also  publislied  the  following 
decree  at  the  same  time  : — 

"Art.  1.  The  blinds  and  shutters  of  all  win- 
dows are  to  be  left  open. 

"  Art.  2.  Any  house  from  which  a  shot  is  fired, 
or  any  act  of  aggression  against  the  National 
Guard  committed,  will  be  immediately  burnt. 

*'  Art.  3.  The  National  Guard  is  charged  with 
the  strict  execution  of  this  order." 

On  the  Tuesday  morniog,  the  Republican 
Union  for  the  rights  of  Paris,  sent  one  of  its 
members,  M.  Bonvalet,  to  the  Hôtel  de  Ville,  to 
inquire  of  the  Commune  whether  they  would  not 
take  measures  to  put  an  end  to  the  struggle 
which  for  three  days  had  drenched  Paris  in 
blood.  He  was  received  by  the  Central  Commit- 
tee, which  since  the  day  before  had  replaced  the 
Commune.  The  majority  met  the  proposal  coldly. 
That  evening,  however,  three  delegates,  Rousseau, 
Grollard,  and  Grelier,  held  a  conference  with 
the  Republican  Union. 

They  would  not  negotiate,  they  said,  unless  the 
Assembly  began  by  changing  the  Government. 
Thus,  at  this  period  of  the  struggle  they  were 
still  making  conditions,  and  such  conditions  I 
This  was  like  insanity.  The  members  of  the 
Union  replied  that  nothing  could  be  attempted. 
Rousseau  said,  "  We  cannot  be  conquered.  If 
need  be  we  shall  resort  to  extreme  measures." 


THE    COJIMUNE.  501 

Already  on  the  16t]i  May,  tlie  Cri  du  Peuple 
Vallès'  journal,  had  published  these  threatening 
words  ; — 

"  A  few  days  since,  we  received  information 
of  the  most  serious  nature,  the  truth  of  which  has 
now  been  confirmed. 

"All  measures  have  been  taken,  so  that  no 
hostile  soldiers  shall  enter  Paris. 

"  The  forts  may  be  taken,  one  after  the  other, 
the  ramparts  may  fall  :  no  enemy's  soldier  shall 
enter  Paris. 

"  If  M.  Theirs  understands  chemistry,  he  will 
understand  us. 

"  Let  the  army  of  Versailles  be  assured  that 
Paris  will  do  everything  but  surrender." 

The  same  paper  published  what  follows  on 
the  20th  of  May  :— 

"  Paris,  heroic  and  despairing,  may  be  blown 
up,  but  should  this  occur,  it  will  be  in  order 
to  engulf  Versailles  and  its  army." 

Rousseau  talked  of  extreme  measures  ;  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Welfare,  of  burning  the  houses. 
Vallès  threatened  to  blow  up  Paris.  The  Scien- 
tific Commission  were  incessantly  requisitioning 
petroleum.  The  following  paper  was  found  on 
the  body  of  an  insurgent,  killed  on  the  8th  May, 
at  the  attack  on  the  Mairie  of  the  11th  arron- 
dissement. 


502  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

"  Committee  of  Public  Welfare. 

"  The  Municipal  officers  are  ordered  imme- 
diately to  collect  all  inflammable  and  explosive 
chemicals  to  be  found  in  their  arrondissement,  and 
to  concentrate  them  within  the  11th. 

"  Committee  of  Public  "Welfare. 

"  C.  Jauffret. 

"  The  houses  attacked  by  the  Versaillais  or  by 
the  reaction  are  to  be  burned.  C.  J.  " 

It  has  been  said  on  behalf  of  the  Commune 
that  no  collective  responsibility  could  exist  on 
this  subject  ;  that  there  was  no  discussion. 
Doubtless  we  find  no  trace  of  discussion  any- 
where; but  the  Commune  never  met  after  the  22nd, 
the  members  had  retired  into  the  Mairies,  remain- 
ing in  the  power  of  the  insurrection.  A  few  were 
seen  to  enter  the  Mairie  of  the  11th,  where  they 
sought  news.  The  Central  Committee  sat  at  the 
Hôtel  de  Ville  on  the  23rd  ;  afterwards  at  their 
old  locality  in  the  Rue  Basfroy.  Details  are 
wanting  as  to  what  was  said  and  done  at  these 
latter  confabulations. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  for  the  honour  of  humanity 
that  no  discussion  was  held  anywhere  upon  the 
assassination  of  the  hostages  ;  and  the  burning  of 
the  monuments  of  Paris. 

In  the  Commune,  in  the  Central  Committee, 
there  were  men  who  would  have  protested  with 


THE    COMMUNE.  603 

all  their  strength,  who  would  have  made  public 
their  protests  and  their  indignation  ;  Beslay,  who 
saved  the  Bank;  Theisz,  who  saved  the  Post  Office; 
Grêlier,  who  prevented  several  conflagrations  ; 
Yarlin,  who  risked  his  life  to  rescue  the  victims  of 
the  Rue  Haxo;  Vallès,  Yermorel,  who  opposed 
Genton  and  Mégy,  to  save  the  hostages  of  La 
Roquette;  poor  Arthur  Arnould,  so  little  fitted 
for  such  surroundings  as  assassins  and  incen- 
diaries, and  many  others  who  refused  to  be  ac- 
complices in  such  crimes.  A  resolution  was 
indeed  taken,  that  is  evident,  but  amongst  a 
small  number  of  villains.  M.  Maxime  du  Camp, 
who  states  that  he  has  quoted  no  text  without 
having  the  original  at  hand  ("  Les  Prisons  de  Paris 
sous  la  Commune  ")  has  published  the  following 
document  : — 

«Paris  (22nd  May). 

"  The  Citizen  Millière  will  take  150  men  with 
fuses,  and  set  fire  to  the  suspected  houses  and 
the  monuments  on  the  right  bank. 

"  The  Citizen  Dereure,  with  100  of  the  same, 
is  entrusted  with  the  1st  and  2nd  arrondisse- 
ments. The  Citizen  Vésinier  is  specially  charged 
with  the  Boulevards  from  the  Madeleine  to  the 
Bastille.  These  Citizens  are  to  make  arrangements 
with  the  commandants  of  barricades  so  as  to 
ensure  the  execution  of  these  orders.'* 


Ô04  THE    GOVEENMENT   OP   M.    THIERS. 

There  is  proof  against  some  of  them.  Ferré*s 
note,  "  Faites  flamber  Finances,"  is  in  existence; 
and  so  is  Parent's  order — (not  Ulysse  Parent,  but 
a  confederate  ofificer  of  that  name)  "  Fire  the 
quarter  of  the  Bourse.  Do  not  be  afraid  ;"  and 
that  note  of  Ulric's,  "  I  am  about  to  fire  the 
Government  storehouses."  The  story  of  the 
burning  of  the  Tuileries  is  told  by  M.  V. 
Thomas,  nephew  of  Clément  Thomas.  The  in- 
cendiaries were  Benot  and  Bergeret.  M.  Maxime 
du  Camp  quotes  the  names  of  the  incendiaries  of 
the  Hôtel  de  Yille.  "  Ranvier,  Hippolyte,  Parent, 
Pindy,  and  Dudach,  undertook  the  execution  of 
this  senseless  crime,  and  acquitted  themselves 
conscientiously  of  it,  aided  by  the  federals  of  the 
174th  battalion  and  two  companies  of  the  Avengers 
of  Flourens."  On  the  morning  of  the  26th  the 
federals  of  the  174th  passed  along  the  Quai  St. 
Berrard,  and  said  joyfully,  "  We  have  just  fired 
the  Hôtel  Haussmann,  and  we  are  going  to  the 
Buttes-aux-Cailles  to  pitch  into  the  Versaillais." 

At  night,  on  the  23rd — 24th,  a  part  of  Paris  was 
in  flames.  The  Ministère  des  Finances  was  entirely 
burnt.  ("Faites  flamber  Finances.")  The 
Palais  Royal  and  the  Library  of  the  Louvre,  oppo- 
site each  other,  were  set  on  fire.  The  Library  had 
been  sprinkled  with  petroleum.  Previous  to  4th 
September  it  had  been  the  Emperor's  library.     It 


THE   COMMUNE.  605 

contained  a  quantity  of  valuable  editions,  of 
magnificent  bindings,  of  beautiful  engravings.  M. 
Jules  Simon  had  made  it  the  Library  of  the 
Museum  of  the  Louvre,  and  had  occupied  himself 
with  collecting  publications  interesting  to  artists. 
All  was  burnt,  to  the  last  sheet  of  paper.  The 
Museums  were  in  danger  for  fully  half  a  day,  but 
the  wind  was  not  in  that  quarter,  the  flames  went 
up  straight  ;  it  was  a  great  piece  of  luck  in  the 
midst  of  cruel  disaster.  Several  houses  in  the 
Eue  Royale  had  also  been  set  on  fire. 

M.  V.  Thomas  thus  relates  the  burning  of  the 
Tuileries.  "  Bergeret  gave  Benot  orders  to  make 
preparations  for  the  conflagration,  and  to  set  fire 
to  the  Palace.  ...  It  was  no  sooner  mentioned, 
than  he  exclaimed,  *  I  undertake  it.'  He  at  once 
furnished  himself  with  candles,  brooms,  and  all 
needful  utensils  for  spreading  petroleum  upon  the 
walls,  and  powder  on  the  staircases,  and  in  the 
rooms. 

"  A  barrel  of  powder  was  placed  on  the  ground 
floor  of  the  clock -tower,  and  large  quantities  of 
ammunition  in  the  Salle  des  Maréchaux. 

"  He  saturated  the  flooring  and  walls  of  all  the 
rooms  with  petroleum  ;  and  laid  a  train  of  gun- 
powder reaching  from  the  inner  court  to  the 
ground  floor  of  the  Pavillion. 

*'  Between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock  Benot  returned 


506  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

to  the  Louvre,  where  the  pair  supped.  After 
coffee,  towards  midnight,  Benot  proposed  that 
they  should  enjoy  the  sight  from  the  terrace  of  the 
Louvre.  About  two  in  the  morning  a  formidable 
explosion  took  place.  All  the  federals  garrisoning 
the  posts  were  alarmed.  Bergeret  reassured  them, 
"  It  is  nothing,"  said  he;  "  the  Tuileries  are  being 
blown  up." 

M.  y.  Thomas  adds,  that  after  the  explosion  of 
the  Tuileries,  Bergeret  wrote  the  following  words 
in  pencil,  and  sent  them  to  the  Committee  of 
Public  Welfare  :  "  The  last  vestiges  of  royalty  have 
just  disappeared.  I  desire  that  the  same  shall 
be  done  with  all  the  monuments  in  Paris." 

Did  he  do  this  ?  Did  he  write  this  ?  Is  it 
true  ?  Is  it  possible  ?  On  the  24th,  the  fires  con- 
tinued and  were  multiplied.  On  the  left  bank,  the 
Palais  de  la  Légion  d'Honneur,  and  the  Palais  du 
Quai  d'Orsay,  were  burned.  Several  houses  in 
the  Rue  du  Bac  were  destroyed,  and  also  the 
houses  in  the  Rue  de  Lille  and  a  part  of  the 
Croix  Rouge. 

On  the  right  bank,  a  portion  of  the  Rue  de 
Rivoli,  the  Prefecture  of  Police,  the  Palais  de 
Justice,  the  Hôtel  de  Ville,  the  theatre  of  the 
Porte  St.  Martin,  were  burnt,  and  also  several 
houses  in  the  Rue  de  Bondy,  Place  du  Château 
d'Eau,  and  the  Boulevard  Voltaire.     The  Palais- 


THE   COMMUNE.  507 

Koyal,  which  had  been  set  on  fire,  was  saved,  as 
also  the  Théâtre-Français  by  the  arrival  of  the 
troops.  The  powder-magazine  in  the  waste  ground 
of  the  Luxembourg  was  blown  up,  so  as  to  leave 
no  ammunition  for  the  "  Yersaillais."  On  the  25th, 
when  the  insurgents  were  dislodged  from  the 
Buttes-aux- Cailles,  by  General  Cissey,  they  set  fire 
to  the  Gobelins  in  retiring  ;  and  thus  consumed 
tapestries  which  had  no  equal  in  the  world.  On  the 
26th,  the  Lyons  Railway  Station,  and  the  Docks  of 
La  Villette  containing  merchandise  to  the  value  of 
200,000  francs  were  burned. 

The  artists  had  formed  a  battalion,  under  the 
orders  of  Commandant  Monplat;  they  had  a 
twofold  right  as  artists  and  as  citizens  to 
oppose  these  devastations.  The  Commandant 
stationed  pickets  at  the  Conservatoire  des  Art 
et  Métiers,  at  the  Archives,  at  the  National 
Printing-Office,  at  the  Mairie  of  the  3rd 
arrondissement,  at  the  Temple,  and  at  Notre 
Dame.  The  preservation  of  those  monuments  is 
due  to  these  brave  citizens.  The  incendiaries 
presented  themselves  and  were  repulsed.  They 
had  forced  their  way  into  the  Mairie  of  the 
3rd  arrondissement,  and  at  once  forming  them- 
selves into  a  court-martial  had  tried  the  artists 
who  opposed  their  entrance,  and  sentenced  them 
to  death.     While  the  judges  were  consulting,  the 


508       THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  THIEES. 

condemned  appropriated  the  arms  whicli  were 
stacked  in  the  place,  and  had  Httle  trouble  in 
showing  the  court-martial  the  door. 

Assassination  had  begun  on  the  23rd,  at  the 
same  time  as  incendiarism.  On  the  22nd,  Raoul 
Rigault  had  gone  to  the  Conciergerie  to  make 
su^e  of  the  presence  of  thirty-four  gendarmes 
whom  he  had  confined  there.  He  said  on 
leaving,  "  It  shall  be  to-morrow."  The  next 
day,  the  23rd,  came  an  order  from  him,  that  they 
were  to  be  taken  away,  and  shot.  A  gaoler, 
named  Durlin,  saved  them  at  the  risk  of  his  life. 
The  old  employés  of  the  prison  service,  kept  in 
Paris  by  order  of  M.  Ernest  Picard,  showed 
praiseworthy  fidelity  in  all  cases.  In  the  evening, 
on  the  same  day,  at  the  hour  when  the  flames 
began  to  rise,  Raoul  Rigault  repaired  to  Ste. 
Pélagie,  and  sent  for  Chaudey  to  the  prison 
lodge. 

Cbaudey,  who  had  received  a  visit  from  his 
wife  during  the  day,  was  writing  in  his  cell.  The 
firing  of  cannon  could  be  heard  drawing  nearer, 
he  began  to  believe  in  his  deliverance.  He  came 
just  as  he  was,  in  dressing-gown  and  slippers. 
Rigault  curtly  informed  him  that  he  was  to  die. 

"  I  have  a  wife  and  child,"  said  Chaudey.  "  No 
snivelhng  !  "  Chaudey  was  not  weeping.  "  You 
shall  see,"  said  he,  "how  a  Republican  dies." 
He  awaited  his  death,  standing  upright  without 


THE   COMMUNE.  509 

trembling,  witTiout  turning  his  head.  The  assassin 
also  ordered  three  gendarmes,  who  had  been 
prisoners  since  the  18th  March,  to  be  shot.  Then, 
Is  business  over,  he  retired,  thinking  perhaps  that 
he  had  another  victim  for  the  morrow  awaiting 
him  at  La  Roquette.  But  on  the  morrow  it  was 
his  own  turn  to  die. 

On  the  22nd  May,  Ferré,  delegate  of  Police,  the 
successor  and  disciple  of  Rigault,  had  sent  an 
order  to  the  Governor  of  La  Santé,  which  re- 
mained without  effect,  thanks  to  the  resoluteness 
of  the  officials. 

"  Paris,  May  22nd,  1871. 

"  The  Governor  of  La  Santé  is  ordered  to 
have  the  gendarmes,  sergeants,  secret  agents,  all 
Bonapartists  who  are  in  this  prison,  shot,  should 
the  insurgents  of  Versailles  have  the  audacity  to 
attack  and  attempt  to  take  it." 

On  the  24th,  at  eight  in  the  morning  he  caused 
M.  Georges  Vaysset,  who  was  detained  at  the 
Conciergerie,  to  be  shot.  The  body  of  this  brave 
citizen,  who  had  served  as  a  medium  of  com- 
munication between  the  government  and  the 
generals  who  were  disposed  to  surrender,  was 
thrown  into  the  river. 

The  hostages  of  most  importance  were  at  La 
Grande  Hoquette.  Raoul  Rigault  had  gone  him- 
self to  fetch  them  from  Mazas  on  the  22nd,  and 
had  transferred  them  thither.     In  the  prison  were 


510  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

the  Arclibisliop  of  Paris,  the  Abbé  Deguerry,  curé 
of  the  Madeleine,  some  other  priests,  Jesuits, 
missionaries,  almoners,  and  several  lay  persons. 
M.  Bonjean,  presiding  judge  of  the  Cour  de  Cassa- 
tion, who  had  been  a  senator  under  the  Empire, 
M.  Chevriaux,  now  inspector  of  the  Academy  of 
Paris,  &c.  Eflforts  had  been  made  some  time 
previously  to  liberate  the  archbishop  ;  or  it 
would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  efforts  had 
been  made  to  liberate  Blanqui,  a  prisoner  of  the 
Government,  by  exchanging  him  for  the  arch- 
bishop, a  prisoner  of  the  Insurrection.  The  follow- 
ing letter,  written  by  the  archbishop  to  M.  Thiers, 
and  taken  to  Versailles  by  a  hostage,  who  had 
given  his  word  to  return  to  Mazas,  but  did  not 
feel  bound  to  keep  it,  explains  the  situation  with 
great  exactness. 

"April  12th,  1871,  Prison  at  Mazas. 
"  Monsieur  le  President. 

"  I  have  the  honour  of  submitting  to  you  a 
communication  which  I  received  yesterday  evening, 
and  I  beg  you  to  take  such  action  upon  it  as 
your  wisdom  and  humanity  may  deem  fitting. 

"  An  influential  man,  closely  connected  with 
M.  Blanqui  by  certain  political  opinions,  and  above 
all  by  sentiments  of  deep  and  long-standing  friend- 
ship (the  archbishop  here  alluded  to  M.  Flotte, 
formerly  deputy  of   the  Seine)  is  making  active 


THE   COMMUNE.  511 

efforts  to  procure  his  liberation.  With  this 
view  he  has  of  his  own  accord  proposed  the 
following  arrangement  to  the  commissaries  whom 
it  concerns.  If  M.  Blanqui  is  set  at  liberty,  the 
archbishop  of  Paris,  and  also  his  sister,  will  be 
set  free,  President  Bonjean,  M.  Deguerry,  curé  of 
the  Madeleine,  and  M.  Lagarde,  Vicar-general  of 
Paris.  The  latter  will  be  the  bearer  of  this  letter. 
The  proposal  has  been  agreed  to,  and  now  only 
requires  your  approval. 

"  Although  I  am  at  stake  in  this  affair,  I  ven- 
ture to  recommend  it  to  your  good  will,  and  my 
motives  will,  I  hope,  appear  plausible. 

"  There  are  only  too  many  causes  of  dissension 
and  bitterness  amongst  us.  Since  an  opportunity 
occurs  of  effecting  a  compromise,  which,  after  all, 
involves  persons  rather  than  principles,  might  it 
not  be  wise  to  accede  to  it,  and  thus  to  contribute 
to  the  soothing  of  men's  minds  ?  Public  opinion 
might  not  perhaps  understand  a  refusal. 

"  In  a  sharp  crisis,  such  as  we  are  now  passing 
through,  reprisals,  executions  by  the  rioters, 
though  they  should  touch  only  two  or  three 
persons,  add  to  the  terror  of  some,  to  the  anger  of 
others,  and  do  much  to  aggravate  the  situation. 

"  Permit  me  to  say  without  further  detail,  that 
this  question  of  humanity  is  woi'thy  of  all  your 
attention  in  the  present  state  of  things  in  Paris. 


512  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.   THIERS. 

"  May  I  venture,  M.  le  President,  to  avow  my 
last  reason.  Touched  by  the  zeal  that  the 
person  of  whom  I  speak  has  testified,  with  so  true 
a  friendship,  for  M.  Blanqui,  my  heart  as  a  man 
and  as  a  priest  has  been  unable  to  resist  his  moving 
entreaties,  and  I  have  undertaken  to  ask  of  you 
the  liberation  of  M.  Blanqui  as  promptly  as 
possible.     This  I  have  now  done. 

"  I  should  be  happy,  M.  le  President,  if  what  1 
now  solicit  should  not  appear  to  you  impossible. 
I  shall  then  have  rendered  service  to  several 
persons,  and  even  to  my  country." 

M.  Thiers  did  not  return  a  reply  for  two  days. 
He  wished  to  consult  the  Ministers,  and  afterwards 
the  Commission  of  Fifteen. 

The  Council  and  the  Commission  were  unani- 
mously for  a  refusal.  M.  Thiers  prepared  a 
letter  to  this  effect,  which  never  reached  its 
destination,  but  of  which  the  conclusion  and  the 
motives  were  made  public. 

The  Archbishop  was  no  doubt  right  in  saying 
that  "reprisals,  and  executions  by  the  rioters, 
added  to  the  terror  of  some,  and  the  anger  of 
others."  What  would  the  Ministrynot  have  doneto 
give  to  the  present  struggle  a  less  sanguinary  cha- 
racter ?  No  one  at  Versailles  believed  that  the  lives 
of  the  hostages  were  threatened.  They  knew  by  a 
cruel  and  recent  experience,  of  what  a  riotous  mob 


THE   COMMUNE.  613 

is  capable,  in  a  moment  of  excitement.  But  the 
hostages  were  in  prison,  they  could  not  perish 
save  by  virtue  of  an  order  from  the  insurrectional 
Government,  and  however  criminal  that  Govern- 
ment might  be,  it  would  not  go  so  far  as  delibe- 
rately to  order  a  wanton  massacre  :  but,  supposing 
that  they  were  wicked  enough  to  commit  such  a 
crime  and  insane  enough  to  cut  off  their  own  sole 
chance  of  safety,  only  five  hostages  were  proposed 
as  an  exchange  for  M.  Blanqui.  There  still  would 
remain  nearly  two  thousand  in  the  hands  of  the 
insurrection  ;  so  that  the  results  of  an  execution  or 
rather  of  a  massacre  so  justly  dreaded  by  the  Arch- 
bishop, would  not  be  avoided.  The  Government 
had  no  right  to  make  this  exchange  ;  they  could 
only  effect  it  in  violation  of  the  law  ;  because 
Blanqui,  condemned,  but  condemned  in  default, 
must  of  necessity  be  tried,  and  could  not  under  the 
circumstances  be  a  subject  for  clemency.  And  then, 
political  reason  would  forbid  the  insurrection's 
being  provided  with  a  chief  who  would  be  regarded 
as  a  considerable  addition  to  its  strength. 

*'  Would  not  the  acceptance  of  this  offer  be  to 
sanction  and  extend  the  abominable  system  of 
hostages,  and  to  permit  the  men  ruling  in  Paris 
to  multiply  arrests  so  as  to  constrain  the  Govern- 
ment to  effect  new  exchanges. 

"  I  am  thus,  Monseigneur,  without  the  right  and 
VOL.  I.  L  1 


514  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

wifhout  the  power  of  effecting  the  exchange  you 
propose,  and  which  a  commission  of  the  Assembly 
has  unanimously  decided  that  the  Government 
ought  to  refuse. 

"  In  this  distressing  position,  I  am  at  least  con- 
fident that  the  men  who  have  dared  to  arrest  you 
will  not  be  so  wicked  as  to  proceed  to  any  further 
violence." 

This  last  sentence  expressed  the  belief  of 
every  one.  When  on  the  22nd  May  the  soldiers 
entered  La  Roquette,  which  had  been  deserted 
by  the  Federals,  the  first  words  of  the  captain  were, 
"  "Where  is  the  Archbishop,  where  is  M.  Bonjean  ?  '* 
They  had  been  assassinated  three  days  before. 

It  would  be  hard  to  say  from  whence  came  the 
order  for  their  execution.  There  had  been  a  sbam 
court-martial  at  the  Mairie  of  the  11th  arron- 
dissement, where  Delescluze  had  established  him- 
self, and  which  was  the  rendezvous  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Commune  and  the  insurgent  officers. 
Who  gave  the  order  to  assemble  this  tribunal,  and 
regulated  its  formation  ?  Was  it  Raoul  Rigault 
or  Ferré  ?  or  the  Committee  of  Public  Welfare  ? 
The  President  was  one  Genton,  a  carpenter,  a 
former  club-president  at  the  end  of  the  empire  and 
during  the  siege,  an  illiterate  personage  of  whom 
the  Commune  had  made  a  magistrate.  The  names 
of  the  assessors  are  unknown,  it  is  probable  that 


THE    COMMUNE.  515 

he  himself  never  knew  them  ;  such  formalities 
were  needless.  "The  Court"  sat  at  the  Marie 
of  the  11th,  on  the  14th  May,  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  Although  it  was  composed  of 
three  members  only,  there  were  present  members 
of  the  Commune  who  took  part  in  the  proceedings. 
The  first  question  that  arose  was  the  shooting  of 
sixty-six  hostages.  They  were  reduced  to  six,  on 
the  stipulation  that  the  Archbishop  and  M.  Bon- 
jean  should  be  of  the  number. 

Vallès  and  Vermorel  strongly  opposed  the 
contemplated  iniquity,  but  their  voices  were 
overpowered.  Genton  set  out  for  La  Grande 
Roquette  with  the  sentence  ;  he  was  accompanied 
by  Mégy  and  Sicard,  and  he  arrived  at  about  five 
o'clock.  The  order  only  bore  two  names,  and 
demanded  six  victims,  "  We  must  have  the  six 
names,"  said  the  clerk  of  the  prison,  endeavouring 
to  gain  time. 

Genton  took  the  jailor's  list,  and  wrote  the  six 
names  in  the  following  order  :  Darboy,  Bonjean, 
Deguerry,  Allard,  Clerc,  Ducoudray.  *'  It  must 
be  approved,"  said  the  clerk.  Genton  ran  to  the 
Mairie  of  the  11th,  and  returned  in  three  quarters  of 
an  hour  with  the  order  endorsed  by  Ferré.  A 
body  of  forty  men,  led  by  François  (the  director 
of  the  prison),  Genton,  Mégy,  Picard,  and  Vérig 
(Yérig  was  the  captain   commanding  the  post), 

L  1  2 


616  THE   GOVEENMENT  OF  M.   THIERS. 

mounted  to  the  first  floor.  Let  us  follow  M.  Maxime 
du  Camp  to  the  end  of  the  story.  "  Ramain  (a 
superintendent,  a  friend  of  François,  and  newly 
brought  by  him  into  the  prison)  called  the  roll  : 
"  Darboy  !  "  a  very  calm  voice  replied  "  Present.'* 
"  Bonjean,"  "  I  am  here,"  said  the  President,  *'  I 
am  taking  my  overcoat.'*  Ramain  seized  him  by 
the  arm  :  "  It  is  not  worth  while,  you  will  do  as 
you  are,"  said  he.  They  called  Deguerry,  no  voice 
was  heard,  the  name  was  repeated,  and  after  some 
moments,  the  curé  of  the  Madeleine  came  and 
placed  himself  next  to  M.  Bonjean,  The  Fathers 
Clerc,  Allard,  and  Ducoudray  replied  at  once,  and 
joined  their  companions.  Ramain  said,  "  The 
number  is  made  up."  The  men  then  moved  away. 
The  chiefs  deliberated  for  an  instant  as  to  the  spot 
where  the  execution  should  take  place.  They 
would  be  too  much  in  sight  in  the  little  garden. 
Ramain  opened  the  door  leading  to  the  first  circular 
path.  The  Archbishop  passed  through  first, 
rapidly  descended  the  five  steps,  and  turned  round  ; 
when  his  companions  in  martyrdom  were  on  the 
steps  he  raised  his  right  hand,  and  pronounced 
the  form  of  absolution,  "  Ego  vos  absolvo  ab 
omnibus  censuris  et  peccatis  ;"  then  he  offered  his 
arm  to  M.  Bonjean,  who  walked  with  difficulty. 

They  were  placed  against  the  wall  facing  the 
firing-party,  Monseigneiu*  Darboy  first,  then  M. 


THE   COMMUNE.  617 

Bonjean,  tlie  Abbé  DegueiTy,  Fathers  Ducoudray 
and  Clerc,  both  Jesuits,  and  lastly  the  Abbé 
Allard,  almoner  to  the  ambulances,  who  during 
the  siege  and  the  battles  of  the  Commune  had 
zealously  tended  the  wounded. 

The  firing-party  were  within  thirty  paces  from 
the  six  men  who  stood  there  erect  and  resiofnod. 
It  was  Genton  who  gave  the  order  to  fire.  Two 
successive  volleys  were  heard,  and  then  a  few 
stray  shots.  It  was  a  quarter  to  eight  in  the 
evening. 

The  next  day,  the  25th,  at  seven  in  the  morning 
Genton  returned  to  La  Grande  Roquette  and  made 
them  deliver  up  Jecker,  the  banker,  who  was 
taken  on  foot  through  a  multitude  of  streets  into 
some  waste  ground  beyond  Père  la  Chaise,  and 
there  shot.  M.  Lissagaray,  in  his  "  Histoire  de 
la  Commune,"  says  that  he  seemed  to  resign 
himself  very  quickly,  and  even  conversed  on  the 
way. 

"You  are  mistaken,"  he  said,  "if  you  think 
that  I  made  a  good  thing  of  this  ;  those  people 
tricked  me."  Genton  had  but  four  armed  men 
with  him.  M.  Maxime  du  Camp  names  two  of 
them,  François  and  Yérig. 

On  the  same  day,  Thursday  the  25th,  another 
massacre  took  place  at  the  other  end  of  Paris. 

A  descent  had  been  made,  on  the  19th,  upon  the 


618  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

École  Albert  le  Grand,  directed  by  Père  Captier, 
and  the  Dominicans  of  Arcueil.  The  latter  were 
accused  of  corresponding  with  the  hostile  army, 
by  means  of  signals,  which  they  had  never  dreamed 
of  doing.  Their  house  was  entered,  the  occupants 
imprisoned,  their  plate  and  money  seized.  There 
were  twenty-one  monks,  a  few  servants,  a  very 
small  number  of  children  whom  their  parents  had 
been  unable  to  remove,  and  some  Sisters  of 
Charity.  The  Sisters  and  the  children  were  sent 
to  Saint  Lazare.  The  Dominicans  were  shut  up 
in  the  casemates  of  the  fort  of  Bicetre  with  two 
Belgian  servants,  and  two  children  over  fifteen. 
The  next  day  they  were  taken  to  the  prison  of  the 
13th  zone,  which  was  already  overcrowded;  one 
of  them  escaped  on  the  way  ;  the  two  boys  were 
set  at  liberty,  the  two  Belgians  were  let  off  as 
foreigners.  The  other  twenty  found  themselves 
in  this  new  prison  at  the  mercy  of  Serizier,  a 
turner  transformed  into  a  colonel  and  Chef  de 
Légion,  who  at  the  beginning  of  the  insurrec- 
tion had  helped  Leo  Meillet  to  save  the  life  of 
General  Chanzy,  but  who  had  become  ferocious 
after  six  weeks  of  fighting,  absolute  authority,  and 
violent  excitement.  Serizier,  who  had  a  horror  of 
priests,  overwhelmed  these  with  abuse.  He  wanted 
to  compel  them  to  work  at  the  barricade  ;  but  they 
stoutly  refused.     "  We    are    lufirmarians,"  they 


THE   COMMUNE.  619 

said  ;  "  we  succour  your  wounded,  but  we  will 
not  lend  our  assistance  to  war."  As  it  was  im- 
possible to  dishonour,  it  was  resolved  to  kill  them; 
but  to  kill  them  like  human  game,  instead  of 
having  recourse  to  the  vulgar  proceeding  of  the 
firing-party,  and  of  "  sticking  them  to  the  wall." 
Serizier  placed  the  National  Guards  at  some  dis- 
tance, as  if  on  the  watch  for  a  shot.  A  good  many 
women  with  muskets  joined  them  to  take  part  in 
the  fun.  When  all  was  ready,  an  adjutant  entered 
the  prison,  and  said  to  the  Dominicans,  "  Go  out, 
you  are  at  liberty."  He,  however,  made  them  go 
out  one  by  one.  Father  Captier  was  the  first 
to  appear  at  the  street  door.  He  saw  the  guns 
levelled  at  him.  "  0  God,  is  it  possible?"  he 
cried  ;  and  fell  upon  the  first  step,  pierced  with 
several  balls.  Those  who  came  afterwards  began 
to  run  in  difierent  directions.  Stumbling  about, 
encumbered  as  they  were  by  their  long  garments, 
eight  of  them  managed  to  gain  the  cross  streets, 
and  to  escape.  The  whole  quarter  had  turned 
out  to  see  the  spectacle;  the  windows  were 
thronged  with  men  and  women  who  laughed  and 
clapped  their  hands. 

The  massacre  of  the  Eue  Haxo  must  now  be 
related.  One's  heart  sickens  at  such  recollections  ; 
but  if  these  catastrophes  are  to  be  the  last,  there 
must  be  no  shrinking  from  the  terrible  task  of 


620      THE  GOVEENMENT  OF  M.  THIERS. 

relating  tliem.  Those  are  lugubrious  annals, 
which  begin  with  the  murder  of  Vincenzini,  of 
Lecomte,  and  of  Clément  Thomas. 

During  Friday  the  26th,  when  no  one  could 
longer  retain  any  illusions  as  to  the  issue  of  the 
struggle,  the  leaders  thought  of  carrying  out  a 
plan  which  had  been  conceived  by  Delescluze;  that 
of  collecting  all  the  hostages  at  the  Mairie  of 
Belleville,  and  demanding  their  own  life  and 
liberty  in  exchange  for  them  from  the  Government. 
There  was,  besides  these,  a  minority  who  did  not 
count  upon  the  clemency  of  the  Government,  or 
who,  maddened  by  the  strife,  preferred  revenge 
to  everything.  Emile  Gois,  who  was  chosen  to 
take  the  prisoners  out  of  La  Roquette,  belonged 
to  this  class.  He  and  François,  who  had  mas- 
sacred the  hostages  on  the  24th  and  Jecker  on 
the  25th,  assisted  one  another.  François  had 
his  lists  ready,  when  Emile  Gois  arrived  with  his 
escort.  They  brought  down  eleven  priests  and 
four  laymen  from  the  division  to  which  M.  Bonjean 
and  the  Archbishop  had  belonged;  from  that 
which  they  called  the  gendarmes'  quarter,  were 
next  selected  thirty-seven  gendarmes  or  guards 
of  Paris  and  fifteen  Serjeants  of  police.  Gois  sent 
back  the  fifteen  Serjeants,  thinking  his  escort 
scarcely  sufficient  for  those  who  remained.  The 
thirty-seven  gendarmes  buckled    on  their  knap- 


THE    COMMUNE.  621 

sacks,  put  on  their  kepis,  and  descended  two  and 
two,  keeping  step,  under  the  conduct  of  their 
quarter-master  one  Geanty.  They  took  the  lead, 
the  laymen  followed  next,  then  the  priests.  Emile 
Gois  mounted  his  horse,  and  they  started. 

Such  an  escort  was  absurd  for  such  a  number 
of  prisoners,  and  outside  the  prison  as  far  as  the 
Rue  Puebla  the  mob  was  sympathetic  ;  a  woman 
called  out  to  them,  '  '  Run  away  !  run  away  !  "  They 
all  followed  Geanty,  however,  as  though  they  were 
going  on  parade  ;  and  whether  it  was  that  Geanty 
despaired  of  success,  or  was  mistaken  as  to  the 
intentions  of  their  jailors,  or  that  he  yielded 
mechanically  to  the  habit  of  discipline,  he  marched 
straight  on,  without  the  slightest  thought  of  flight 
or  of  resistance.  In  the  Rue  Puebla  the  mob 
showed  itself  hostile.  Stones  were  thrown,  a  cry 
was  raised,  "  Down  with  the  priests."  An  immense 
crowd  was  watching  the  horrible  and  magnificent 
spectacle  of  the  burning  of  Paris  from  the 
heights.  The  federals,  repulsed  from  the  Buttes- 
Chaumont,  came  flying  at  all  their  speed;  and 
feeling  themselves  in  comparative  security,  they 
loudly  demanded  that  the  prisoners  should  be 
given  up  to  them.  They  would  have  massacred 
them  on  the  instant. 

The  escort  stood  firm,  and  succeeded  in  ascend- 
ing the  Rue  Puebla  and  the  Rue  des  Rigoles  which 


622  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

is  a  continuation  of  it,  in  tlie  midst  of  an  enormous 
concourse.  G.  Ranvier  was  on  the  threshold  of 
the  Mairie  of  the  20th.  He  received  the  prisoners 
"  in  his  Mairie."  "  You  have  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
to  make  your  wills  if  that  amuses  you,"  he  told 
them.  In  fact  they  did  set  out  again  in  a  quarter 
of  an  hour.  It  is  stated  that  Ranvier  said,  *'  Go 
and  shoot  me  all  that,  on  the  rampart." 

The  cortege  had  changed  its  aspect.  At  the 
head  marched  a  vivandière  dressed  in  red,  sitting 
astride  upon  a  horse,  a  sword  in  her  hand; 
next  came  the  drummers  and  trumpets,  sounding 
the  charge  ;  next  the  hostages,  surrounded, 
pressed  upon,  hardly  protected  by  their  escort. 
Shouts  arose  of  "  Here  !  here  !  let  us  go  no 
farther."  The  most  furious  of  the  crowd  drove 
away  the  soldiers,  and  struck  the  prisoners  in  the 
face.  Thus  they  were  driven  up  the  Rue  Haxo, 
as  far  as  a  cité  that  now  bears  the  number  83  ; 
it  was  the  head-quarters  of  the  2nd  zone. 

The  last  members  of  the  Commune  and  the 
Central  Committee,  the  last  of  the  federal  officers 
had  gathered  there  that  day.  They  had  just 
divided  the  contents  of  the  safe  amongst  them. 
Eudes,  Bergeret,  and  Jourde  had  left.  Yarlin 
was  still  there,  also  Humbert,  Latapy,  Oudet,  and 
Hippolyte  Parent. 

A  tremendous  clamour,  drowing  the  trumpets 


THE    COMMUNE.  523 

and  drums,  announced  the  arrival  of  tlie  hostages. 
YarHn,  who  soon  afterwards  was  to  follow  in  the 
same  path,  rushed  to  meet  them  and  to  repel  the 
assassins.  His  friends  had  to  use  force  to  remove 
him;  he  was  threatened  with  "being  stuck  to 
the  wall  "  like  the  others. 

The  hostages  were  pushed  into  a  little  court 
where  there  was  a  building,  and  a  low,  unfinished 
wall,  about  fifty  centimetres  in  height. 

The  vivandière  jumped  ofi"  her  horse  and  struck 
the  first  blow.  Geanty  uncovered  his  breast  ;  a 
priest  threw  himself  in  front  of  him  ;  they  both 
fell.  *'  With  muskets,  with  revolvers,  they  fired 
upon  these  unfortunate  men,"  says  M.  Maxime  du 
Camp.  "  Some  federals,  attracted  by  the  noise,  had 
perched  themselves  upon  a  neighbouring  wall,  and 
sang  at  the  top  of  their  voices  while  firing  down- 
wards. Hippolyte  Parent,  standing  on  a  little 
wooden  balcony,  with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth  and 
his  hands  in  his  pockets,  looked  quietly  on  until 
the  end. 

"Massacre  was  not  enough:  the  assassins  in- 
vented a  game.  They  forced  the  unhappy  men  to 
jump  the  low  wall.  The  gendarmes  jumped  ;  they 
shot  them  '  flying,'  and  that  was  amusing.  One  of 
the  priests  having  said,  *  We  are  ready  to  confess 
our  faith,  but  it  does  not  become  us  to  die 
skipping  ;'    a   federal   threw   down   his    musket, 


524  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIERS. 

seized  him  round  the  body  and,  amidst  the 
applause  of  the  crowd,  pushed  him  and  then  the 
others  over  the  wall.  The  last  priest  resisted  ; 
he  fell,  dragging  the  federal  along  with  him.  The 
assassins  were  impatient,  fired,  and  killed  their 
comrade. 

"  A  few  still  breathed  ;  the  crowd  fired  a  general 
volley  at  them,  thrust  at  them  with  bayonets,  and 
stamped  on  their  corpses.  When  the  bodies  were 
removed  on  the  29th  May,  it  was  stated  that  one 
of  them  had  received  sixty-nine  balls." 

On  the  24th  May,  twenty-four  hours  after  the 
commencement  of  the  conflagration,  the  day  after 
the  murder  of  Chaudey,  the  very  day  on  which  the 
Archbishop  and  M.  Bonjean  were  assassinated,  the 
Central  Committee,  speaking  of  conciliation  after 
their  own  fashion,  placarded  and  distributed  the 
following  declaration  : — 
"  Republican  Federation  of  the  National  Guard. 
*'  Central  Committee. 

"  At  this  supreme  moment,  when  a  whole  popu- 
lation, arrived  at  the  climax  of  exasperation,  has 
resolved  to  conquer  or  to  die  for  the  maintenance 
of  its  rights,  the  Central  Committee  desires  to 
make  its  voice  heard. 

"We  have  but  fought  against  an  enemy:  civil 
war.  Consistent  throughout,  whether  as  a  pro- 
visional administration,  or,  since  wo  have  entirely 


THE   COMMUNE.  526 

witlidrawn  from  affairs,  we  have  thought,  spoken 
and  acted  in  this  sense. 

"  To-day,  and  for  the  last  time,  in  presence  of 
the  evils  which  may  fall  upon  us  all, 

"  We  propose  to  the  heroic  armed  people  who 
elected  us,  we  propose  to  the  erring  men  who 
are  attacking  us,  the  only  solution  capable  of 
arresting  bloodshed,  while  securing  the  legitimate 
rights  that  Paris  has  won. 

"  1st.  The  National  Assembly,  whose  part  is 
played  out,  shall  dissolve  itself. 

"  2nd.  The  Commune  will  likewise  dissolve 
itself. 

"  3rd.  The  so-called  regular  army  shall  leave 
Paris,  and  withdraw  to  a  distance  of  at  least 
twenty-five  kilomètres. 

"4th.  A  temporary  authority,  composed  of 
delegates  from  the  towns,  numbering  at  the  least 
60,000  inhabitants,  shall  be  appointed. 

"  This  body  shall  choose  from  among  its  mem- 
bers a  pro  visionary  government,  whose  mission  will 
be  to  elect  a  constituent  Assembly  and  a  Commune 
of  Paris. 

"  6th.  There  shall  be  no  reprisals  taken,  either 
against  the  members  of  the  Assembly  or  against 
the  members  of  the  Commune,  for  any  acts  after 
the  26th  March. 

"  These  are  the  only  acceptable  conditions. 


626  THE    GOVEKNMENT    OF    M.    THIERS. 

*'  May  the  blood  spilt  in  a  fratricidal  struggle 
fall  upon  the  heads  of  those  who  oppose  them. 

"  As  for  us,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  we 
will  do  our  duty  to  the  end. 

"  The  members  of  the  Central  Committee." 

But,  on  the  24th,  General  de  Cissey  was  master 
of  the  Luxembourg,  of  the  Pantheon,  of  the 
Barrière  d'Enfer  ;  his  troops  were  arriving  at  the 
quay  of  the  left  bank  opposite  the  Hôtel  de  Ville, 
while  on  the  right  the  army  occupied  the  12th 
and  2nd  arrondissements.  The  Hôtel  de  Ville, 
then  deserted  and  in  readiness  for  burning,  was 
surrounded  by  our  troops. 

It  burnt  between  two  corps  d'armée.  On 
the  25th  General  de  Cissey  took  the  Butte-aux- 
Cailles  after  a  serious  encounter.  General  Vinoy 
advanced  as  far  as  the  Bastille.  The  Château  d'Eau 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  besiegers.  General 
Ladmirault  occupied  La  Chapelle  and  Villette  on 
the  very  day  on  which  Jecker  was  assassinated, 
and  when  they  had  the  pleasure,  at  the  13th  zone, 
of  a  battue  of  Dominicans. 

On  the  26th  Vinoy  took  the  Faubourg  Saint 
Antoine,  and  the  Lyons  Station,  which  the  insur- 
gents fired  on  leaving.  He  next  occupied  the 
Place  du  Trône  and  reached  the  boundary  of  Père 
La  Chaise.  Ladmirault  was  in  possession  of  the 
Rotonde  and  of  the  Temple.  On  the  27th  Douay 
took  the  rest  of  the  faubourg. 


THE    COMMUNE.  527 

The  Commune  was  dislodged  from  Père  La 
Chaise.  There  was  no  fighting  there,  as  was  said, 
nor  did  the  fugitives  attempt  an  ambuscade  among 
the  shrubs  or  behind  the  tombs.  The  army 
reached  the  heights  by  the  great  thoroughfares, 
without  encountering  any  obstacles. 

Ladmirault  was  master  of  the  Buttes-Chaumont 
by  Sunday  morning. 

The  insurrection,  which  had  been  confined  since 
the  26th  to  the  Faubourg  of  Belleville  and  Menil- 
montant,  signalized  its  last  hours  by  the  massacres 
of  the  Rue  Haxo,  and  the  burning  of  the  docks 
of  La  Yillette.  Ferré  returned  on  the  27th  to 
the  Rue  de  la  Roquette,  to  bring  back  1300 
soldiers,  prisoners  at  La  Petite  Roquette,  to 
Belleville,  and  315  hostages,  who  still  remained  at 
La  Grande  Roquette  ;  these  put  themselves  on  the 
defensive.  Ferré,  who  was  pressed  for  time,  and 
who  believed  the  regiments  of  the  line  were  at  his 
heels,  started  with  the  1300  soldiers.  He  had  time 
to  take  them  back  to  Belleville,  and  to  encamp  them 
in  the  church  of  Saint-Jean-Baptiste,  where  they 
passed  their  last  night  of  captivity.  On  Sunday 
morning,  the  28th,  there  was  nothing  left  to  take 
but  a  few  barricades.  The  last  surrendered  at 
four  in  the  afternoon. 

The  following  proclamation,  very  simple  and 
very  dignified,  announced  to  Paris  and  to  France 
that  the  horrible  struggle  was  at  an  end  : — 


528  THE    GOVERNMENT   OF   M.    THIEBS. 

"  French  Republic. 
"  Inhabitants  of  Paris, 

"  The  army  of  France  has  come  to  save  you. 
Paris  is  delivered.  At  four  o'clock  our  soldiers 
took  the  last  positions  occupied  by  the  insurgents. 

"  To-day  the  struggle  is  ended  ;  order,  labour, 
and  security  are  about  to  revive. 

"  Maeéchal  de  MacMahon." 

Certain  hostages  perished  by  their  own  fault 
on  the  27th.  The  prison  of  La  Grande  Eoquette 
was  free.  The  greater  portion  of  the  prisoners 
remained  there  to  await  the  army,  but  some  went 
out  into  the  neighbouring  streets,  still  bristling 
with  barricades.  Monseigneur  Surat,  Grand-Vicar, 
M.  Becourt,  Curé  of  Bonne-Nouvelle,  M.  Houillon, 
missionary,  and  a  civilian,  M.  Cbaulieu,  reached 
the  Rue  de  Charonne,  where  they  were  stopped. 

Monseigneur  Surat  said,  "  I  am  a  priest,  and 
I  have  come  out  of  La  Roquette."  They  were 
massacred  on  the  spot. 

The  Army  has  been  reproached  with  not  hav- 
ing taken  Paris  on  the  22nd  and  23rd.  This 
rapidity  would,  it  is  said,  have  saved  the  lives  of 
the  hostages.  The  barricades,  which  had  to  be 
taken  one  by  one,  did  not  then  exist  ;  they 
were  the  work  of  those  two  days  ;  582  barri- 
cades having  been  constructed  in  the  interval 
between  Sunday  and  Wednesday  morning.     But 


THE    COMMUNE.  529 

no  one  can  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  these  figures, 
which  are  probably  exaggerated.  All  the  barricades, 
whatever  their  number,  were  not  raised  in  two  days. 
From  the  18th  March,  Paris  was  busy  in  erecting 
barricades.  Cluseret  and  Rossel,  had  shown  great 
energy  in  directing  those  operations.  The  Commune 
had  more  cannon  than  were  required  in  the  forts 
and  on  the  ramparts  wherewith  to  furnish  them  ; 
the  interior  of  the  city  bristled  with  them. 

The  entry  of  the  troops,  on  Sunday  the  21st, 
was  a  surprise,  and  there  was  a  momentary  panic 
among  the  insurgents  ;  Passy,  Auteuil,  Grenelle, 
were  scarcely  defended  ;  the  army  took  advantage 
of  this  to  advance  rapidly  towards  the  Trocadero. 
But  the  confusion  did  not  last  a  day.  During 
the  night  of  Sunday  to  Monday,  the  tocsin  sounded 
in  all  the  churches,  and  the  drums  beat  to  arms 
in  every  street  with  a  deafening  noise.  The  army, 
at  the  first  step  they  made  to  enter  the  streets, 
found  muskets  and  cannon  pointed  at  them.  It 
was  known  that  the  insurgents  held  in  their 
power  1500  or  2000  hostages,  but  it  was  pro- 
bable, it  was  believed,  that  they  would  only  make 
use  of  them  to  negotiate,  and  in  fact  this  was  the 
opinion  of  the  great  majority  of  the  combatants. 

The  madmen  who  preferred  their  own  ven- 
geance to  this  last  chance  of  safety,  would  only 
have  begun  earlier  to  assassinate,  had  they  been 

VOL.  I.  M  m 


630  THE   GOVEENMENT  OF   M.    THIERS. 

attacked  witli  blind  impetuosity,  at  the  risk  of 
sacrificing  tlie  soldiers  ;  they  would  either  have 
massacred  the  prisoners  in  a  body,  or  set  fire 
to  the  prisons. 

An  order  to  burn  Mazas  had  been  given.  M. 
Thiers  remained  faithful  during  this  last  week,  to 
the  rule  which  he  had  imposed  on  himself  from 
the  beginning;  to  go  slowly,  that  he  might  go 
surely.  Those  who  criticize  him  too  late,  do  not 
measure  the  consequences  of  a  defeat,  or  even  of 
a  check  in  the  moment  of  victory.  The  advance 
movement  might  be  slow  without  too  much  peril 
from  a  political  point  of  view  ;  the  least  retrogade 
movement  would  have  ruined  all. 

It  was  necessary  to  keep  in  view  the  spirit  of 
the  army  and  of  the  large  towns  ;  of  the  excite- 
ment of  a  portion  of  the  Assembly  in  a  contrary 
sense,  and  lastly,  above  all,  of  the  presence  of 
the  Prussians. 

Certain  historians,  who  have  never  dealt  with 
politics  or  commanded  armies,  are  pleased  to  say 
that  Paris  might  have  been  taken  in  two  days, 
that  nothing  was  easier.  In  the  same  manner 
General  Trochu  is  reproached  for  not  having 
raised  the  siege.  The  Commandant  of  the  Army 
and  his  generals  thought  with  M.  Thiers  and  the 
Government,  that  the  taking  of  the  streets  of 
Paris  was  a  difficult  and  redoubtable  enterprise  ; 


THE    COMMUNE.  531 

that  it  required  as  mucli  ability  as  courage,  and 
that  they  ought  not  to  leave  behind  them  either 
present  or  future  combatants. 

They  considered  the  lives  of  their  men  ;  a  pre- 
cipitate and  headlong  rush  through  Paris  could 
not  succeed  except  at  the  cost  of  innumerable 
human  victims,  whilst  the  losses  of  the  army 
would  be  comparatively  slight.  The  war,  con- 
ducted as  it  was,  does  honour  to  the  humanity 
and  ability  of  our  generals.  Such  will  certainly 
be  the  final  judgment  of  History. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  cruelties  should  have 
been  committed  by  the  conquerors.  They  may 
be  explained,  it  is  impossible  to  justify  them. 
The  Government  had  given  a  formal  order  that 
all  who  laid  down  their  arms  should  be  made 
prisoners,  and  this  was  also  the  desire  of  the 
Marshal  and  of  the  principal  officers  of  the  army. 
Nothing  is  so  impossible,  however,  as  to  excite 
the  ardour  of  the  soldier,  when  he  is  on  this  side 
of  the  wall,  and  to  exact  that  he  shall  restrain 
himself  so  soon  as  he  is  on  the  other  side. 

He  has  slain  and  he  slays.  Victory  during  the 
first  hour,  is  mere  vengeance.  Men  whose  own 
blood  is  flowing  and  who  have  trodden  on  the 
bodies  of  their  comrades,  can  hardly  be  merciful. 
They  are  sometimes  ferocious,  and  that  is  deeply 
deplorable. 

M  m  2 


532       THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  M.  TRIEES. 

The  war  had  been  very  sanguinary.  Fighting 
had  gone  on  daily  for  t\YO  months.  The  army 
had  seen  the  Civil  War  commence,  after  the 
foreign  war,  with  a  thrill  of  indignation.  The 
regiments  on  returning  from  captivity  and  having 
so  much  need  of  rest,  and  of  a  welcome  from 
their  country,  found  themselves  obliged  to  go  into 
harness  again,  to  give  and  receive  gun-shots  and 
cannon-shots,  while  they  were  being  waited  for 
and  expected  at  their  homes. 

The  burning  of  Paris  was  not  calculated  to 
soften  the  conquerors'  hearts.  The  flames  that 
enveloped  them  showed  these  brave  men  human 
madness  and  fury  imder  a  new  form.  They 
forgot  they  were  in  France,  on  beholding  these 
barbarities. 

Among  the  few  leaders  of  the  insurrection  who 
perished  in  action,  we  may  quote  Duval,  Flourens, 
a  colonel  named  Burgoin,  General  Dombrowski, 
Delescluze,  who  fell  at  a  barricade  where  he  came 
to  die,  and  not  to  fight,  on  the  25th  May  : 
Yermorel,  who  received  a  mortal  wound  on  the 
last  day  ;  Millière,  who  was  shot  on  the  steps  of 
the  Pantheon.  Kigault  had  been  arrested  on  the 
24th,  in  a  house  where  he  tried  to  hide.  As 
they  took  him  away,  "  I  am  Raoul  Rigault,"  he 
said,  and  he  was  shot  dead  on  the  spot. 

Many  members  of  the  Commune,  and  officers, 


THE   COMMUNE.  633 

succeeded  in  making  their  escape.  The  Govern- 
ment only  laid  hands  on  twenty-seven  members  of 
the  Commune,  forty-five  members  of  the  Central 
Committee,  two  generals,  forty-six  colonels  and 
lieutenant-colonels,  eleven  commissariat  officers, 
and  fifty-seven  doctors.  The  other  prisoners,  of 
whom  the  number  exceeded  30,000,  were  but  the 
mob. 


END   OP   THE   FIEST  VOLUME. 


"A  book  aboandlnff  In  matter  of  solid  Interest."— Zo»(/<7n  Spectator, 


%\i  ^QbFPnmFn!  of  im^*  ^IIffs* 

By   JULES     SIMON. 

Translated  from  the  French, 

Two  vols.  8to $4.50. 

The  importance  of  this  book  among  the  materials  for  the  history  of  the 
time  is  at  once  self-evident,  and  can  hardly  be  exaggerated.  Simon's  part 
in  the  most  intense  action  of  the  period  he  describes,  his  intimate  relations 
with  Thiers  himself,  and  his  position  in  the  Republican  party  of  France, 
unite  to  give  a  worth  to  his  narrative  such  as  could  hardly  attach  to  that  oi 
any  other  eye-witness  of  these  events.  Such  records,  by  men  writing  of 
matters  in  the  very  crisis  of  their  own  activity,  generally  have  to  wait  for 
the  future  historian  to  put  them  into  their  lasting  form,  and  give  them  their 
greatest  interest  as  parts  of  the  whole  story.  But  the  most  remarkable  fea- 
ture of  M.  Simon's  book  is  that  it  does  not  need  this  treatment,  and  is  not 
so  much  a  personal  memoir — a  contribution  to  history — as  a  completed  pic- 
ture of  the  period.  There  is  a  justice  of  proportion  and  truth  of  historical 
perspective  about  it  that  is  very  unusual  in  the  work  of  one  recording  the 
politics  of  his  own  day.  Parts  are  not  unduly  magnified  because  they  were 
subjects  of  the  author's  special  personal  observation  and  interest  ;  but  the 
relative  weight  of  different  events  is  as  carefully  given  as  though  by  a  philo- 
sophical looker-on  rather  than  an  actor.  There  is  a  strong  probability  that 
a  century  hence  the  book  will  still  be  looked  upon  as  among  the  first 
authorities,  in  impartiality  and  full  appreciation  of  the  time  it  treats. 

Simon's  pen-pictures  of  contemporaries — even  of  adversaries — are  very 
striking,  in  the  fact  that  they  are  generally  just  without  losing  any  of  their 
vigor.  They  are  as  interesting  from  another  point  of  view — if  not  as 
*'  ruthless  "—as  those  of  the  great  German  chancellor,  whose  comments  on 
the  characters  of  those  engaged  in  the  same  scenes  are  often  supplemented 
by  these  sketches.  The  future  historian  of  the  last  ten  years  can  hardly 
complain  that  he  lacks  knowledge  of  their  leading  men,  when  he  has  at  hand 
this  history  and  Dr.  Busch's  memoirs  of  Prince  Bismarck. 


From  the  "  London  Spectator." 
*'  The  special  interest  connected  with  these  volumes  is  to  be  found  in  striking  and  vivid 
notices  scattered  through  them  of  points  which  only  one  intimately  connected  with  the 
transactions  under  review  could  have  known.  With  the  single  exception  of  M.  Harthè- 
lemy  St.  Hilaire,  no  person  was  so  closely  associated  with  M.  Thiers  during  the  course  of 
his  administration  as  Jules  Simon.  *  •  *  *  1'he  various  chapters  are  devoted  to  so 
many  episodes — many  of  them  stirnng  episodes — that  are  told  with  striking  force.  Of 
course  the  spint  of  the  narrative  is  strongly  biased,  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  M.  Jules 
Simon  writes  with  want  of  candour.  *  *  *  *  The  history  of  the  constant  and  patient 
straggle  of  M.  Thiers  against  turbulent  and  factious  combinations,  though  not  unlre- 
quently  attended  by  sallies  on  his  own  part  of  seeming  impatience  and  querulousncss,  is 
narrated  in  graphic  chapters.  Two  especially  must  command  attention — those  in  which 
M.  Simon  tells  the  tale  of  the  Commune  and  of  the  negotiations  wliich  M.  Thiers  carried 
on  with  so  much  skill  and  pertinacity  for  the  liberation  of  France  from  the  invader  at  a 
term  earlier  than  that  fixed  by  the  original  treaty." 

•**  The  above  book  for  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  luill  be    sent,   prepaid,    upon 
receipt  of  price,  by 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS,  Publishers, 

743  AND  745  Broadway,   New  York. 


THE    MiOST    FA-MiOTJS    BOOK    OF    THE    33 A. Y. 

BISMARCK 

IN      THE      FRANCO-GERMAN      WAR. 

AN      AUTHORIZED      TRANSLATION      FROM      THE      GERMAN 

OF 

Dr.   MORITZ    BUSCH. 


Two  Vols.   8vo,  extra  cloth,  black  and  gold,        .        .       $4.00 


American  readers  now  have  an  opportunity  to  make 
acquaintance  with  the  most  widely-discussed  book  of  the 
day,  and  those  whose  expectation  has  been  aroused  by  the 
reviews  and  correspondents  will  be  able  fully  to  understand 
the   excitement   it  has   called   forth   in    Europe. 

Covering  the  whole  period  of  the  war,  the  book  gives 
an  account — as  vivid  as  only  the  smallest  details  can  make 
it — of  Bismarck's  daily  life,  habits,  and  methods  of  work  ; 
his  comments  on  everything  and  every  one  about  him  ;  his 
opinions,   epigrams,   and   smallest   table-talk. 


'•  Thf  /'uhlicntion  of  Bisvtarck' s  a/tfr-dinner  itilk,  inhethfr  liiscrfft  or  not,  ivill 
he  of  p'icelfss  hiograpliiciil  imlue,  ami  Knglishtnrn,  nt  lettst,  iinll  not  he  disposed  to 
gun rrel  -untk  Dr.  Hu'.ch  for  ghn'ij:;  a  picture  as  true  to  life  as  Boswell  V  '  Johnson  ' 
of  the  foremost  practical  genius  that  Germany  has  produced  since  Frederick  the 
Great."— LONDON  TIMHS. 

'■^  Nohody  can  understand  the  political  history  of  the  Franco-German  iiuir,  nor 
the  man  Bismarck,  its  chief  maker,  who  has  not  read  the  diary  of  the  Keichskanzler's 

Bosii-ell The  English  version  is  far  ntore  rtadabie  than  t/ie  German." 

—LONDON  ATHENj^UM. 


*^*  The  above  book  for  lale  by  all  booksellers,  or   iinll  be  sent,  /repaid,  upon 
receipt  of  price,  by 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS,  Publishers, 

Nos.  743  AND  745  Broadway,  New  York. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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